Thinking quickly, Eric stashed his phone, took a deep breath and then turned around and walked across to the other boy, making sure to be obvious enough that he didn't surprise him.
"Hey." Eric wasn't used to using charm or his wits to impress others, since he'd spent most of his childhood being picked on, but the last few weeks had given him an excess of self-confidence. Having a big beautiful teenaged package that was perfectly tailored for his pre-teen body seemed like it had imbued him with a supernatural level of self-confidence. While he didn't have the natural magnetism that Ethan seemed to possess, he had come to realise that he was VERY cute, and that adults and classmates alike were aware.
Even though Eric's ego had taken something of a beating after Ethan caught him at the park and relegated him to his original equipment, the same desire and drive was still there. In spite of his remorse, Eric's possessiveness was overriding, and his penis-inspired charisma kicked in -- he HAD to put on a show and get it back from this kid!
"Having trouble with your locker?" Giving a friendly smile, Eric sidled up next to the boy and took the combination lock in hand. "These are old, and there's a trick to using them. Sometimes it won't engage unless you press the shackle into the case before you start. Like this." He squeezed it in demonstration, clicking the shackle in a fraction, and then he let go. "You try. Don't worry, I won't watch your numbers, promise."
Surprised, the boy copied the motion, then swiped his numbers through, and his mouth dropped in surprise when the lock clicked open first try.
"Wow!" He exclaimed, his eyes wide. "That's so cool!" The boy turned to him fully, with what seemed like a hero-worship expression on his face. "Th-thanks Eric, for helping me out!"
The fact that this kid somehow knew his name was a surprise, but Eric just rolled with it, playing ultra-cool.
"You know me?" Keeping it relaxed, he smiled again and shrugged. "Well, I'm nobody special. Just someone who likes to do right by others."
"Yeah, I know you!" He nodded, a little timid and shy -- just like Ethan had said -- but his enthusiasm seemed genuine. "Some of the guys in my year were talking about you embarrassed Matty Harkins in gym one time, and how the bigger guys, the jocks, won't bully you anymore even though you're ... smaller, like me." He trailed off, seeming embarrassed. "We just thought you were really cool, that's all."
Pride swelled in Eric's chest -- here was actual proof the respect he had gained as a result of being hung was real! -- and it just made the desire to get his cock back increase even more. He already had a reputation with this kid without even knowing it. He could use this!
"Ah, it's nothing! I don't like bullies though." He shrugged again, and then frowned, as that hatred of bullies was very much real. Personal experience made him despise physically 'stronger' people preying on the weaker. "Are you having trouble with someone? Guys like us have to stick together! What's your name?"
"It's- ... it's kinda complicated." The boy paused, like he wasn't sure how much to say. "Um, my name is Brandon."
"Brandon. Cool." Eric repeated the name, locking it into memory. "You're sure everything is okay? Seems like you could do with someone to talk to." Pretending to think it over for a couple of seconds, he casually flipped out his phone. "Tell you what, you can have my number -- that is, if you'd like to make a new friend." He added the last part, as smooth as he could make it.
"A ... friend?" Brandon looked shocked, but it quickly turned to amazement, then gratitude and excitement. "I don't have many friends. Um, yes. Please." Scrambling through his locker, he dug out his own phone, his fingers practically shaking with nervous energy, as he put Eric's number into his phone and vice versa. "Wow. Um, this is- ... it's .... so cool. Thanks Eric!"
"No problems." Eric slid the phone back into his pocket, nonchalant, and pointed his thumb down the hallway. "We better get back to class, but txt me after school, okay? We should chat! And don't forget that trick with your locker." He gave a final wink, before turning to head back to his classroom.
"You bet. Of course I will. Thanks again Eric. Talk to you later!" The boy's voice was soft as he called after the younger Morales brother, but so full of thankfulness.
"Seeya, Brandon."
Eric had a big grin on his face as he walked from his bathroom break, and he felt buoyant, and very hopeful.
One step closer to regaining what was his.
--------------------
It was late Friday morning by the time Lucas Sorensen met up with a certain someone. He had been looking forward to seeing his subject of interest all day, and although they had txt back and forth a lot since the conclusion of their (very successful) date, he noticed Ethan had ducked out of practice early the previous day.
Lucas was still learning about the boy he had an intense crush on, and while Ethan had seemed nervous during their date, it mostly came across as a first-time thing, not that he didn't want to be there.
Now, it felt almost like Ethan was being evasive, for some reason?
Even during practice, Ethan was jumpy, and though he didn't seem to be directly avoiding Lucas, it wasn't until afterwards that Lucas pulled him aside and they actually got to speak alone.
"Hey, are you okay?" He gave his best smile. "Been wanting to talk to you in person, privately, since Wednesday night."
"Yeah, I'm okay." Ethan's answer sounded well practiced, but Lucas wasn't really convinced that he actually WAS okay. "Is there something on your mind?"
"Well, yeah. I was kinda thinking, that maybe," Lucas paused, trying to phrase it just right, "since we seem to fit together really well, and like each other a lot, that you might want things to be more official. Like ... 'boyfriend' official. That is, if you want?"
"Boy ... friend?" The reaction was shock, and while the way Ethan drew out the word was cute, Lucas immediately felt like the question could have been a mistake, as Ethan began to stumble over his answer and didn't respond clearly. "I- ... I, um ... uh-"
"Fuck!" That was the first thought through Lucas' mind. "It's too fast, too soon! I've made him really uncomfortable! What if he's into girls more, and this is just some harmless experimentation for him? Maybe I'm pushing this too hard, but I thought ... he really seemed into me."
Out loud, he said an interjection: "Hey, it's okay. You don't have to answer yet. There's no pressure. I can take things slow. Maybe we can go on more dates instead, if you like."
"I'm sorry, I don't wanna make this weird, but, I- ... uh, I need a little time."
"Gotcha." Lucas smiled reassuringly. "We can still txt though right? I promise I'll behave."
"Definitely. I'm not gonna leave you hanging. For real." Ethan nodded, and swallowed nervously. He hiked his school bag up. "Just gotta ... get through something first. Bye Lucas."
"Bye Ethan." Lucas nodded, and watched his crush go.
He felt silly for making the suggestion, but he was sure someone like Ethan Morales was worth waiting for, so ... if Ethan needed some room to think, he'd get all the time he needed.
--------------------
On his way to lunch, Ethan's head was still a bit of a mess. Though the solidarity with Eric the previous night had helped him a lot, he still felt highly stressed and fearful over what was going to happen. It was only compounded when he had spoken with Lucas not minutes earlier, after their practice was done.
As he sat down at a cafeteria table with a few friends he knew -- nobody he was particularly close with, just acquaintances he liked from the school's various sports teams; Aaron, Justin, Cory, and Freddy -- Ethan couldn't help running over what Lucas said to him, in his head.
"Boyfriend official."
For a moment, the word 'boy' had taken him aback. Not because of the gender, but because, well, Ethan WAS a boy.
A little boy.
The suggestion of a relationship combined with his own feelings had caught him so off-guard that he'd been unable to answer, even though he desperately wanted to say: 'Yes!' He really was interested in Lucas as more than just something casual, but ... like this?
The way he was?
He couldn't be anyone's boyfriend if he was just a kid.
"What about you? Anyone take your eye recently?" Justin's question over the lunch table jolted him out of his reflection.
"Huh?" He managed.
"You think Ethan's got time away from the pool to actually chase anything?" Cory retorted.
Oh! Ethan instantly realised they were talking about girls ... and him.
"You're just saying that because Mindy keeps talking about him and not you," Aaron snapped back, with a smug grin. "He's living rent-free in her panties without trying, and you can't even buy your way in with a million bucks."
"Well, I can't help it if this asshole is hogging all the chicks." Cory punched his arm, but then laughed. "I'm just messin', he knows I love him. Seriously though, you gotta stop outclassing the rest of us and keep it contained. I swear, she got a glimpse and now she's obsessed."
"No shit, dude." Freddy nodded. "My girl is close with Amy Forrester, and their gossip has been nothing but 'Ethan this' and 'Ethan that' ever since she saw his wang a couple of weeks ago. Something about being pantsed in the quad when Gabby's posse and Montgomery were around."
Oh! The incident with Jared! Thankfully the attempted defamation through spreading a pic of Ethan's little dick had failed, but, apparently news HAD gotten around -- news to the opposite effect! Being forced to flash those girls had actually helped him, and it did seem like his reputation as a stud had only been cemented. Haylee's reminder that 'four gossipy bitches' now knew he was a 'gorgeous sweetheart with a footlong cock' had been completely accurate.
If only it was STILL accurate.
Deep within his underwear, his immature boyhood twitched limply, wanting to agree.
"Like y'all need that as proof. Everyone knows my boy here has more sausage than a fuckin' pork factory, and he knows how to use it." Justin nudged Ethan. "Ain't that right?"
"Sure is." He played along, matching the tone of their banter, even though he wasn't feeling the mood. "Dead right."
"Hell yeah! Ethan's junk is infamous. I'm surprised they can walk after you're done with them." Aaron laughed. "You and your big hard pussy-destroyer."
He was going to respond, but something about the line stuck in his head. Aaron and the other guys didn't hesitate, and their sex-talk just continued regardless, but the words repeated in his mind. They were followed by taunts from his very own conscience.
Big hard pussy-destroyer.
'You're a fraud,' the inner voice whispered, even as his friends bantered around him about his supposed sexual prowess, 'you used to be able to do this, with a big cock, even with Eric's cock! But now you like a GUY, and now ... now you're 100% a little boy, and little boys don't fuck anybody. Little boys don't know how.'
"But, I do know how," he told himself. 'I've fucked Haylee! I'm not a fraud, I-"
'Yes you are.' His conscience interrupted again. 'You remember how it goes. All the guys around you are semi-hard right now. Just from joking about fucking girls, they're growing, swelling with blood, slowly getting larger at the thought of sex, of how a soft wet pussy will feel wrapped around them ... but you? You're completely soft.' As if to illustrate the point, Ethan's penis gave another twitch of agreement, safe inside the layers of crotch stuffing, the exact same as before. 'Still small and floppy, and a half, a third, a quarter, of what they have even as they become long and stiff. You ARE a little boy, and you should leave the horny stuff to the teenagers.'
"No! I'm NOT a little boy!" Ethan could only deny his inner dialogue, even as his body simply reaffirmed it. "I ... can't be, can I? Am I really a little boy?" Weirdly, he didn't feel like a stud anymore even after his attempts to ingrain in his head that he was ... but more like a boy listening to a bunch of older guys indulge in dirty talk he didn't understand. "Maybe I- ... no! I've gotta prove that I'm not!"
Until he could find a solution to this mess ... he had to prove to himself that he could overcome this physical limitation, that he really was a teenager.
"Gotta make it happen at home," he told himself. "I gotta do this."
The remainder of the afternoon classes, Ethan stumbled through. Repressing the weirdness of his encounter with Lucas and his own self-doubts during lunch, he picked up Eric after school. His little brother seemed to be in a good mood, though he didn't say why. Chatting with Eric did make him feel a little better though, and after getting back and finishing the small amount of extra homework he had, Ethan knew he wanted that proof.
Locking his door and he sat and slowly slid his pants down, and then underwear too.
Despite the camaraderie with Eric from the previous day, the sight of it sent him instead flying into the confusion and despair of his bathroom visit at school on that same day, that forced him to confront and think about his mistaken swap.
Now, he was ready to reverse that failure.
"I've gotta prove I'm a teenager. I've gotta, gotta, gotta ... make myself hard. I can do it."
Really studying it, he leaned down a little, attention fixed on his crotch. The shaft was so pale that it seemed mismatched with the rest of him, and Ethan ran his finger along to the tip of his penis. Playing with the sensitive roll of his foreskin's sheath, he sighed in enjoyment -- it felt nice, but not sexual -- and then he went down further. Tickling under his balls, he couldn't help but stare as he gently ran his finger around them. He felt weirdly obsessed with his testicles, and although a part of that was about how smooth and young they were to the touch, it was more a fascination with tightness. They clung so close to his crotch that they were practically vanishing inside him, and Ethan flushed as he realised that he LOVED the sensation, but that he desperately missed having Eric's balls. They were perfect -- just as round and soft as these were, but also smaller, and most importantly of all, able to cum.
"I need to do that," he thought, "but how?"
A fantasy?
Yeah, a fantasy could work!
"Maybe ... thinking about Lucas will help?" He wondered. "I'm into him. After all, it happened when I kissed him, right?"
Turning his mind towards what might do it, he settled back on the bed, trying to decide on something fun. Oral sex seemed good and relatively safe, so maybe ... a sixty-nine would 'light his fire'?
In a blink, a fantasy-generated Lucas was above him, facing the opposite direction, naked too, and Ethan's memory immediately began drawing in all the wonderful detail of the chest, torso, legs. The cock was pure fantasy, since Ethan had very little working knowledge of that area, but it clocked in somewhere above average, and without pausing, he was wrapping his lips around it. Then Ethan was getting the same treatment -- and suddenly he was full size, long and thick, with a warm wet mouth sliding along his restored penis.
"Oh yeah," he thought, as he began to get into it, "this is just right!"
Closing his eyes, brain well in tune with his fantasy, he could feel Lucas hardening in his mouth, making little sounds of enjoyment, moving above Ethan as they sucked each other. His crush's lips were at impossibly slick and good, and they ran back and forth along his full flaccid size, lightly squeezing and pulling at his length. It felt AMAZING, and while he focused on making it start to harden, he realised that fantasy-Lucas was 100% there already and rock solid.
"Nearly there!" He told himself. "I can get a stiffy!"
But then, it morphed into a nightmare.
It happened quickly enough that he couldn't do much. One moment he was on the brink of regaining his mojo, and the next? He was shrinking in Lucas' mouth, inch after inch rapidly melting away as Lucas sucked him, like his libido and physical attributes were actually being drained. His face twisted in surprise and horror, but it was already done, and with a jolt Lucas began to orgasm, as Ethan returned to his juvenile size. Eyes flicking open, he sat up with a gasp, the fantasy evaporating like mist.
Breathing heavily, Ethan looked down at his crotch. His face was red, his heart was hammering, but his groin was totally unaffected.
Smooth, white, and pitifully unmoved by his best efforts, the older Morales brother could only stare at his immature genitals, and accept the terrible truth of the situation with a soft despairing whimper.
"M- ... maybe I really am ... a little boy."
--------------------
Throughout most of Friday evening, Eric was heavily engaged with befriending his new acquaintance through text chat. Brandon absolutely seemed to fit the profile of the boy Ethan had described, short as that description was. The right personality traits, the right appearance, and most of all: the right hidden crotch-bump! It also turned out that he was into a few of the same online video games and mobile games as Eric, so by the time Sunday evening hit, Brandon had come out of his shell more and their chat felt far more natural.
It was then Eric decided to take advantage of his status, and Brandon's gullibility, and he popped the question in voice chat when they were hanging out, not long before bed time.
"So, uh, I'm just gonna go ahead and ask, but did something weird happen to you recently? As in: you were at the movies on Wednesday, and you met somebody there, and then you changed. Like ... 'changed'."
"W-what? You ... know? H- ... how?!" Brandon sounded both nervous and completely shocked at how easily and thoroughly his 'secret' was apparently known. "H-how did you- ... find out?"
"Well, I'll let you in on a secret. Other people wouldn't have known about you, but when I saw you at school, I could tell. It's because I know a little magic, and I could see some hints you had been, um, transformed." Eric smiled to himself, having no trouble using a couple of harmless white lies to assume the mantle of 'young sorceror' if it suited the narrative to play to Brandon's naivete. "I mean, clearly, it's magic -- what happened to you -- right? Nothing else could explain it. Nothing normal."
"You're right, I guess it has to be like, supernatural or something, but, um," Brandon seemed to have no trouble buying into Eric's story, and his voice immediately perked up, "you- ... you know about magic for real! Holy crap! Do- ... do you think you could help me with ... um ... my- ... my problem. My ... big ... problem."
Eric wanted to shout with joy at the innocent question -- yes! He DID want to help! -- but instead, he reined in his excitement.
"Sure!" He agreed. "Magic can be funny and difficult to talk about so I don't know how much I can tell you, but ... I'll see about helping tomorrow, when we're at school."
"Awesome." Brandon responded. "I- ... wow, I can't believe this! I'll see you then!"
"Yeah," Eric grinned. "See you then."
--------------------
It wasn't until the lunch hour that Eric managed to meet up with Brandon, and the two of them went off to find somewhere secluded to talk and eat that was away from their classmates. No sooner than they had sat down, before they even began to eat, Brandon let out a sigh and relaxed.
"You've got no idea how good it is to talk about this. I felt like maybe I was going crazy, because of what happened." He sat back, manspreading a bit, his crotch pressing against the fabric. Eric's gaze zeroed automatically to the prize, and furtively he stared at it. Brandon continued to speak, oblivious, and quickly it turned to mild complaint. "It's ... too big. So hard to hide, and kinda uncomfortable. It's embarrassing, though, um ... maybe it'd be okay if it was smaller, but not all the way small, y'know?"
Uncomfortable? Too big? Hard to hide?
Eric most definitely didn't know.
His real teenaged cock wasn't uncomfortable nor too big, and he didn't care how hard it was to hide -- it was the best thing ever! Just gazing at Brandon's crotch-bump made his mouth dry and his heart start to race. He licked his lips and swallowed, attention still caught on the bulge, before he dragged it up again.
"Well, uh," Eric said, though the other boy wasn't watching where Eric's eyes were going and hadn't caught the inspection, "I think I can, um, transform you back, but I'm going to need a piece of your clothing."
"Clothing? I can't lend anything I'm wearing now or my mom will kill me." Brandon frowned, and hesitated. "You can probably come over after school, but my dad won't be home, and my brother ... will be."
Brother? Eric didn't ask about that mention, but there was definitely a note of apprehension and maybe concern to Brandon's statement.
"If that's okay?"
"Should be." Brandon shifted where he was sitting, and without intending, Eric's eyes were drawn right back to that bump as the pants moved around it. Except now it was pressed against the material with more definition, and he could see the line of the shaft, the thickness of it, the gentle curve due to the length. The dry mouth began to water and in moments, Eric was already there, his mind flooded by memory. He was alone in his room, gripping his naked thighs, leaning forward, the fat head pressing against and then parting his lips, and then the rest was behind, pushing into his throat so he could suck on it.
Yesss!
This cock belonged to him, Eric Morales! Brandon didn't have a clue how amazing it was, and Eric wasn't about to let him find out. He was going to get it back, and-
With a blink of surprise, Eric's reminiscing of blowjobs past vanished like a summer daydream as he was brought back to the fore by an unfamiliar sensation.
His current dick -- the original 11 year old one -- was getting hard.
Eric didn't remember if he ever had a proper erection before he swapped with Ethan, and the sensation of it stiffening, short and sensitive, was unexpectedly foreign. Did Ethan enjoy this?! Eric could admit it felt nice, but it still seemed very strange that Ethan would prefer this over having an enormous long thick hardon. To Eric, nothing was better than being big, and when he was big, nothing was better than quality time shared between his mouth and cock.
At least now though, he could get hard either way?
That was something.
"So, you don't live far, right?" Eric asked, finally ripping his mind and concentration fully away from Brandon's unintentionally stolen junk. "We'll meet at the front gate and walk from there?"
"O-okay," Brandon agreed. "We can do that."
--------------------
Texting Ethan that he would be home later after meeting a school friend, the two boys walked together to Brandon's place. It was nice, a multi-story suburban town house, and once they were inside, Brandon introduced him to his mom, who waved absently from the study and barely spoke a word. As they made their way up to Brandon's room, the pair ran into somebody blocking the stairs.
The dreaded older brother.
High school age, around 17ish, above average height, athletic.
"Um, this is my f- ... f-friend Eric." Brandon's voice quivered when he addressed his brother. "We're j-just going to my r-room to-"
"Don't care." The brother shrugged and narrowed his eyes, studying Eric's face, who stared back expressionlessly, refusing to be intimidated. "Say, you ... remind me of someone." He held the look steady, not quite placing where he might know Eric from. "Whatever. I don't have time for pipsqueaks." Back to Brandon. "Make sure your geek 'friend' doesn't come in my room, or you'll be paying. Got it?"
"Y-yeah." Brandon muttered, and the two of them slipped past, while the older boy strode down to the kitchen.
Dumping their bags as soon as they got into Brandon's room, he locked the door to his room and they sat.
"Well, I'm sorry you had to meet him, b-but ... that's my brother. The one and only Jared."
"Is he always an asshole like that? You said it was complicated, but ... is he creating trouble for you?" Eric shrugged and gave his new friend a knowing look, tapping his forehead with a bit of added duplicitous charisma thrown in to convince. "I got magic in here, so I can tell if you're trying to trick me."
"I- ... yeah." Brandon admitted, but then shrugged. "But it doesn't matter. Mom thinks he poops gold, and Dad never sees the stuff he does because Jared is great at covering up and lying." He shook his head. "I don't wanna talk about my d- ... dumbass brother."
Eric wanted to continue asking about the torturer older sibling, feeling a desire to help Brandon out for real, but he simply changed the topic instead.
"So, uh, how'd you deal with, um ... being like this, the last few days?" His curiosity was genuine, but truthfully it was one of his favourite interests anyhow. "Must have been difficult carrying a burden like that."
"Oh, yeah, it was." The younger boy agreed. "I've been really careful, so it was a huge surprise when you asked me about it."
"I bet." Eric laughed. He couldn't help stealing glances at the bump, and there was a slowly building desire to see more than just the outline, made all the worse by being so close but unable to touch. "What's it like?"
"Annoying!" Brandon began to list some of his tribulations. "My underwear is so tight all the time -- I wish it fit inside them! I have to wear baggy clothes so nobody knows. And, like, other stuff is weird too. Sometimes when I use the restroom, it touches the water. Ew!" He made a face. "A couple of times too ... it got really hard and swollen, and- ... it felt really REALLY strange and I couldn't think about anything else but how hard it had gotten."
The complaints immediately conjured up mental imagery for Eric, but in it, he had willfully substituted Brandon with himself -- exactly as it was meant to be -- and there was NOTHING wrong. Tight underwear? Yep, but the way his crotch jiggled like an overstuffed bra was absolutely delicious. Touching the water? Hell yes it did, it was big and beautiful and deserved to be baptised. Random erections taking away concentration? Brandon clearly didn't understand the point of having a mature cock. Eric didn't know why he'd want to think about anything other than his hardon anyhow -- it was fucking perfect!
The imagery wasn't enough though, and he still kinda needed to glimpse the goods again.
"Um, hey Brandon," he paused, deliberately mixing in a tone of sympathy, like he just wanted to understand Brandon's plight. "Do you think I could ... see it? You don't have to if you don't want," Eric added quickly. "There's no pressure. I was just wondering how big it really is."
"I, um ... y-yeah. Okay." He nodded shakily, his shyness super obvious. "I trust you, but, um ... can you close your eyes for a sec? Sorry. I'm nervous doing anything ... n- ... naked."
"It's all good." Eric did as asked, shutting his eyes. "Go ahead. Just say when."
There was a rustle of material, and after a few moments Brandon replied: "O-okay. You can look now."
He opened his eyes, and ... there it was.
Jutting out from Brandon's even scrawnier bottom half was a lengthy flaccid penis, swaying majestically over two plump balls, that were also moving lightly in their sac. "It's, uh, a-actually nice to have it out -- there's this c-constant pressure wearing pants -- b-but I, um ... I do want it to be smaller, more like how I was before." Brandon's initial stammering was pure embarrassment, but he began to master it, getting more comfortable in front of Eric to speak normally, and he continued on talking about his desire to 'return to normal'.
Eric, though, was only half paying attention, and his next couple of replies were absentminded one or two word answers.
Mostly he was just reveling in seeing it again, basking in the aura like it was some kind of holy relic. He couldn't help thinking how it didn't really look as seamless attached to Brandon as it had to him, and while he could've been jealous, all he felt was anticipation, and a sense of admiration.
This was HIS cock, and he was soon to have it back.
He felt a sort of awe at how he'd lucked out with his brother and this amazing piece of masculinity. To Eric, it deserved to be kissed, sucked, stroked, shown off, treated with care, and worshipped as the wonder it was ... but ONLY by the real owner -- or Ethan too, of course -- and not by anybody else, no matter how well meaning.
"Anyways, enough of t-this. I won't force you to keep looking at it." Brandon giggled, a little nervously, and then quickly bent and hiked his pants and underwear together. Eric couldn't help covertly watching as his teenaged package vanished again under fabric, suppressing a laugh as the other boy briefly struggled to contain and fasten himself up again. "You need a piece of clothing, right?"
"Yeah, that would work." Eric thought for a moment, recalling that he wasn't carrying the ring. "I'll have to take it overnight though, because I gotta do this magic at home."
"Okay." Brandon nodded. He got up, walked across to the dresser, opened it and fumbled around for a moment, before returning. He handed a navy cloth cap to Eric and nodded. "This is the same cap I lent out at the cinema, right before, uh ... well, you know what happened. My- ... my thing grew really big."
With a sense of victory, Eric took the cap, his heart racing like crazy inside, though outwardly he stayed calm.
"It's just what I need." He paused. "Um, are you sure I can't, like, help you with anything?"
"Nah." Brandon turned the offer down. "I've met you for just a couple of days, but you've only been ... super cool to me. I don't need anything else. This crazy magic stuff is ... more than I was expecting. You don't have to stay if you've got what you need."
"Oh! But I'd like to. I don't have to go home straight away." Eric nodded to the console connected to a little TV set in the corner of the room. "Does that work? We should play something for a bit."
"It does." Brandon smiled and crawled across the bed to push the power button. "So let's use it."
--------------------
The walk home wasn't too far for Eric. He made his way inside, receiving a half-hearted 'hello' from his dad on the couch, before he went through to his room. Dumping his school bag, he went across to Ethan's room and knocked.
"Hey, little bro." Ethan let him in, before they settled on his bed. He had been watching TV, and Eric could definitely see the bags under his brother's eyes and how stressed he looked. This mistake had taken a toll on Ethan's wellbeing over the last few of days, and it actually made Eric sad that his brother was truly unhappy. "Have fun at your friend's place?"
"Yeah. I actually did," he nodded, and then not waiting on fanfare, pulled out Brandon's cap, from where it was stuffed in his pocket. "But it was more about getting this. For you."
"Getting what?" Ethan looked at the cap, confused, but then he recognised what it was and his eyes went wide. "You found it. You FOUND it!"
Immediately, Eric felt his brother envelope him in a crushing hug. "I love you, Eric! I thought I had to live with this, for real!"
"I love you too." He hugged Ethan back tightly. "I couldn't leave you like that."
"I'm so glad you're my brother." Letting go, Ethan sat back, and he took the cap in his hand and focused. Spreading his legs slightly, both of them watched as the material began to fill out, each brimming with emotion.
For Ethan, it was surprised disbelief and gratitude that his brother had come through for him, out of nowhere ... AGAIN.
For Eric, it was happiness that he'd managed to fix the problem and help Ethan, but also, their shared property had returned. There was NO WAY he was going to let that part of his life go.
"Haaa." Ethan breathed out softly, his stressed look dissolving to relief, face tinged a light pink from the subtle rush of hormones. "I think ... we've both learned our lessons, so ... here. You can do whatever you want with this."
Ethan removed the ring and held it out to Eric.
"You've earned it back, but," he paused, holding up Brandon's cap, "I want to know how you tracked THIS down!"