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Hello, and welcome to the latest chapter of my miniseries "My Brother's Best Friend". We're up to the fourth chapter, and this story seems to be becoming more and more interesting for me! Thus, I hope that you will enjoy the read!

If you have any comments, don't hesitate to give me any feedback you have! Also remember that all votes, faves and watches help others to find these stories as well!

Cheers!

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"Hello, Brand!" Jeff waved his own phone in front of him, in his hand, and flicked his ears. "Mind if I come in?"

Jeff's heart pounded so hard that it almost felt like it might give up beating altogether if it continued to do that at any faster speed. His tail flicked swiftly from side to side and his ears tried their best to stay upright, but they kept on flicking all the way down before bouncing back up, briefly. Brand's were all the way down and wouldn't budge. It was all too obvious that he was beyond nervous, he looked like he could scream, as he stood there, behind the kitchen window, staring at the smaller, younger pony standing on the outside.

Jeff put his phone down and shook his head.

"I didn't send it to Adam," he said, loud enough that he hoped that Brand would hear, and associate his gesture of putting his phone in his pocket with the fact that he had not exposed Brand's secret.

He even managed to smile, just a little.

"I didn't send it," he repeated since he didn't get any response from the pony on the inside. "You're safe!"

Brand's nostrils flared as he breathed hard through them, fogging the window even more than before.

The ugly sensation in Jeff's belly seemed to become even more intense than before, and his cheeks burned as he wondered what was going to happen next. He'd just been expected to be called in by now...but they were having this odd...stand-off, rather. His tail flicked nervously from side to side, and he held his hands over his hips...hoping to show that he didn't have his phone with him...meaning that he couldn't do anything about his earlier threat of sending the photo forward to Adam...to tell him that his best friend was as gay pervert.

"Can I come in?" Jeff spoke slowly and loudly, hoping to catch Brand's attention now.

The bigger pony didn't move a muscle as he stood there, breathing heavily, simply staring at the younger male on the outside. Jeff wasn't sure if he was just putting on some sort of an act or whether he actually was all frozen there, but he knew that this couldn't go on for too long.

Jeff decided that he couldn't take any more of this, it was no point torturing himself or Brand anymore, he would have to do something, to get things moving...and with that in mind, he nodded.

"I'm coming in, okay?" he said, again speaking in a loud voice to make sure that Brand would hear him, before he moved forward along the side of the house, his frayed nerves making his usual steady gait to waver a little. His legs felt too heavy, his hands were sweaty, and his heart was still beating madly...he didn't feel right, he almost never felt like this, and this was so much. It took him almost a minute to get around the house and to the front door.

"Here we go...," Jeff breathed out to himself and grabbed the door handle to let himself in to Brand's home.

The door seemed all too loud when he pushed it open, and Jeff's ears flattened upon the almost creaking sound. His hooves clicked on polished wood, neat and shiny and obviously well-kept, he noted almost idly, as he closed the door behind him, and scanned the room with his curious, if nervous, eyes. It wasn't so different from his own home, it was a living room, with a couch, a big TV, a bookshelf, armchairs and a fireplace. The room smelled like ponies, there was no doubt of that, and he could easily pick Brand amongst the variety of scents, mixed with that had to be his mother and father, different, but still reminding him of their son's very personal scent. Wide doors lead into the dining that was also very neat and obviously decorated by a woman, and he knew that the kitchen had to be behind it, behind that door...and that's where Brand had to be.

"Brand!" Jeff called out, hoping that the pony would appear soon and maybe say something, give him something to work with now that he had made it clear for the pony that he knew about his secret.

Jeff continued slowly on his way towards the kitchen, entering the dining room and then he stood there, by the kitchen door...which he hesitated to open. He couldn't hear anything from within the next room, no signs of Brand moving, speaking, or doing anything. The silence was almost deafening, and scary, too, because he had no idea what Brand was doing now. He wasn't breaking things, or trying to run, or trying to rush out to attack Jeff...it was as if he wasn't...doing anything.

Jeff took a deep, determined breath and pulled the kitchen door open.

The first thing he noticed was the strong tang of orange juice that hit his nose, and its source was more than clear. There was a carton of juice on the table, and most of it seemed to be on the floor, amidst the shattered remains of a tall glass. It looked like Brand had been pouring himself a glass of juice just when he got the text from Jeff, and had reacted accordingly. The pony stood there still, next to the kitchen sink, his back to the door, eyes still trained to the window overlooking the yard. Jeff could hear his hard breaths that had made the window almost opaque, as he kept huffing, loudly. His tail never stopped flapping about behind him, against those all too attractive buttocks that drew Jeff's eyes even now as the teen pony stood on the doorway and watched the silent figure. A frown spread over his face, slowly, as the older pony remained unmoving and unspeaking.

"Brand?" Jeff spoke, tentatively now, his ears flicking as he tried to make contact with the pony.

The big pony's ears flicked, quickly.

"Brand, uhh..." Jeff was starting to feel crap as he stood there, watching the still form of his brother's best friend, now...reduced to this odd hazy state, by Jeff's hand.

"Brand, I understand that..."

The pony's long head turned and he gave Jeff a wild, dark look, from his defiant, bright eyes.

"Shut the fuck up, kid," Brand hissed, and didn't turn away.

Jeff's belly clenched hard and his ears flattened, watching how the pony standing in the yellow puddle bared his teeth and growled.

"SHUT-THE-FUCK-UP-JEFF!" he bellowed so loudly now that it almost felt like to Jeff that the windows were probably rattling from the force of the sound.

Brand swung around and lunged on him, shards of glass crunching under his sneaker-covered hooves when he came over through the kitchen and grabbed onto the front of Jeff's shirt. The fabric stretched and made a ripping sound as he propelled them forward.

"Augh!" Jeff made a sound as his ass collided with the dining table, and he found himself pushed over it, partway on his back, and pushed down by firm hands pressing down on his chest, wide. Brand's muzzle hovered over his own, wild-eyed flat-eared and wide open, so that he could see ever tooth, the red maw and the big tongue, all in perfect display as he pony huffed loudly, hotly, over Jeff's prickling face. Pain shot from his back as the reality of the sudden collision with the table coursed through him, it wasn't too bad, but it was there.

Jeff tried to kick a few times, but Brand was pressing even harder now, over both sides of his chest, leaning over the prone pony with all his weight put behind his paws as he kept him captured like that, making that awful face only inches away from Jeff's face. The young pony felt like he was almost going to piss himself as he was so roughly handled by his brother's best friend, the always cocky and roughhousing but never ANGRY or scary big, muscular pony now pressing him down so hard.

In any other circumstances it would've been a dream come true for him, but now Jeff could only whimper, and nicker softly, as he stopped struggling and submitted.

"Br...Brand..."

"WHERE-THE-FUCK-YOU-GOT-THAT-PICTURE?" Brand's spit sprayed over Jeff's face as he yelled at him at point blank range, loud enough to make Jeff's ears ring.

The big pony's hands tugged on his shirt again, making the fabric stretch even more as he held onto him, breathing hard, grunting, snorting, his ears perpetually flat as he glared at the lesser pony.

"WHERE-DID-YOU-GET-IT?"

Jeff panted as he answered, still almost scared to tears as he spoke, finally.

"Yesterday...ahh...yesterday...when you thought I wasn't home yet...I...took it from the door...ahh...Brand, that hurts..."

The pony's hands didn't move an inch.

"FUCK YOU!"

"...I thought you were smoking...aghh...pot...with Adam..." Jeff wailed, trying to go for his defense of innocence...he wasn't really strictly spying on Brand jerking off, after all, but more like, it was an accident.

Brand harrumphed and glared at him again, and snorted, loudly, hard enough that a little bit of snot landed on Jeff's muzzle. The young pony almost puked at the sensation.

"Agh!!" he sighed out, his belly churning, and he could taste his stomach acids as he fought the ill feeling.

"YOU-LITTLE-FUCK!" Brand leaned down firmly over him and stared him straight in the eye, as intimidating as he ever was to Jeff, while he held the young boy pony down roughly.

"I wasn't going to tell anyone!" Jeff groaned, meekly, staring up at the wide-eyed male on top of him.

"OH-YEAH?"

"I just...ahh...Brand..." his grip was so heavy that it was making it hard for Jeff to breathe, as the bigger pony bore down on him.

"FUCK YOU MOTHERFUCKER!"

Spittle flew all over Jeff's muzzle as he was shouted at again by the agitated pony who kept harrumphing and snorting at him, loudly, as he stared him down.

"Brand, I'm sorry!" Jeff's eyes felt like they had tears in them as he tried to plead with the now genuinely scary male on top of him. Had he been wrong? Was Brand going to beat him up, or worse? Was the jock going to hurt him really bad? He was almost choking already...it wouldn't need much of a move to actually try to strange him and not just hold him down like this...anything could happen...he had messed up so bad...he'd tried to blackmail Brand...his brother's best friend, over his sexuality...he was going to pay the price, badly...

Jeff made a wailing sound as he made another feeble attempt to struggle against the bigger pony.

"Please, Brand, I don't...I didn't meant to...augh..can't breath, Brand!"

"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE YOU LITTLE FUCK?"

The tears now burned in the corners of Jeff's ears as he wailed.

"I'm gay, Brand, I'm gay, I'm gay, I'm GAY!"

He wasn't sure if he had the strength for one more attempt to try and break free from underneath the bigger pony, it felt hard to breath still, his chest was burning, his throat felt dry, his eyes were hot with tears...what was going to happen...oh Jesus...Jesus Christ...no...

Then it stopped and Brand was gone and he no longer felt like he was dying, and he drew a deep breath that hurt a little, but his chest expanded normally and filled with air, precious air, as he breathed in and then huffed out, coughed, and tried to sit up on the edge of the table.

Brand stood there, a few feet away, panting, his ears still flat, staring at the seated pony with wild eyes, his maw still open, but now it looked more as if it had simply gone slack with shock, and he was no longer making the earlier angry face, purposeful one, that was. This seemed more natural, and just...there...as he kept chuffing and snorting and neighing, loudly.

Jeff rubbed his chest, quickly, to try to get that bad feeling away from it, as he blinked the tears away, snuffled, and watched Brand with his still wet eyes.

"Yeah, Brand, I'm gay...I...I'm gay and I'm gay just like you are..."

He saw the jock pony tense at his words, but he did not move, not raised either of his hands there were held into tight fists against his hips. His eyes looked as wide as ever.

Jeff swallowed painfully and kept talking, not wanting to spoil this opportunity.

"I'm gay and I'm never gonna tell Adam that you are gay, I'm not stupid," he spoke again, his voice just a little bit steadier than before.

There was no time for thinking, he realized, there was no longer a plan, there was just this...situation he had gotten himself into, with his stupidity, of his "cool" little "Plan" with a capital P to try to get it on with his brother's best friend, whom had been revealed to be gay. He'd never expected it all to end like this...practically beaten up and crying with the pony still looking at him in a way that didn't rule out further violence yet.

"I'm not gay," Brand hissed, his ears flicking rapidly.

Jeff snuffled, and blinked again. His eyes still didn't feel right.

"Gay enough to do that then, whatever, but I'm gay. One hundred percent. I'm a..."... he'd never said it aloud, not really, not even to himself...not like this. "...a total queer."

Brand's head twitched off to the side, nervously, just like any equine's did when they were in distress, wanting to throw their head back.

"So why the FUCK are you telling me this, Jeff?"

Jeff snuffled and wished he could dry his ears to his sleeve without the other pony seeing, but that seemed to be out of the question.

"I don't know anyone else who is gay."

Brand snorted.

"And you got this fucking fantastic idea to think that..."

"Look!" Jeff snapped, looking sharply at the bigger male now, out of the slowly building anger in him, at the pony's denial. "I'd never have thought if it wasn't for that...for what happened..."

Jeff decided it wasn't worth the risk to mention the picture again, it had already almost gotten him bashed, he didn't want to go through that again, it was all too much. He simply looked at Brand now, standing there, huffing and chuffing while obviously trying to calm his own nerves down, too, after getting one HELL of a surprise in the form of an innocent text from a strange number.

"Nothing happened," Brand snorted. "Nothing."

Jeff shook his head.

"Why do you have to pretend to me, Brand, I'm not gonna tell anyone!" the young pony pleaded, as carefully as he knew, but he had to, because this was obviously not going anywhere.

"Oh yeah?" Brand snorted, his ears becoming still flat again. "So why do you go on snapping photos of me that you can use to spread LIES about me?"

Jeff felt another twinge of fear course through him upon hearing those words, but he tried to hold whatever remained of his nerves and speak up again.

"I already told you, it was an accident," he started. "I thought you were smoking pot and...wanted proof..."

His cheeks heated as he realized what he had confessed, and judging by that scowl and that snort from Brand, he'd been busted.

"You wanted to blackmail me!" Brand lashed out again, stepping forward so that he stood only a foot away from the still seated smaller pony, and he brandished his fist over Jeff's muzzle, while his other hand closed firmly over Jeff's shoulder.

Jeff jumped at the sudden sensation, but stayed put, looking up to Brand's eyes, scared and nervous at this new turn.

"Yeah, okay, yeah, I wanted to blackmail you and Adam...," his ears flattened as he expressed his regretted.

"You over curious snothead," Brand snorted loudly.

Jeff breathed out slowly and continued.

"Just thought maybe I'd for once get you to do something fun with me..." he spoke, meekly.

Brand snorted.

"Fucking fantastic idea of fun, this, coming here and messing up with my mind!" he snorted, and shook Jeff by his shoulder, not hard enough to hurt or cause damage, but he certainly felt it, and his teeth felt like they were clattering.

"Augh, Brand!" Jeff neighed, and his tail smacked against the polished tabletop.

Brand put his fist down but still kept holding onto Jeff's shoulder as he gave him a dark, long look.

"But you saw something else," he grunted.

"Yeah, I did," Jeff replied, matter-of-fact. "It's cool, Brand...sorry I scared you..."

For once he did feel like a stupid little kid who had gotten himself way too involved in big boy's games...by trying to play them too without knowing the rules. He was in deep shit now, Jeff knew as much, Brand might say anything...do anything...make him do anything...

"Brand, I wasn't going to try to blackmail you for being gay, honestly..." Jeff sighed.

They remained quiet for a while, only hearing each other's strong, loud breaths, as they both took the situation in. Jeff's slick face was washed over by Brand's hot breaths, and it reminded him again of who he was talking with...the big, pony he admired so much.

After what felt like minutes Jeff was released, as Brand again stepped back, and stayed there, stroking the back of neck and through his dark mane, as he simply stayed put, his eyes not looking directly at the still seated younger pony.

Jeff took the moment's opportunity and quickly rubbed his eyes against the sleeve of his ruined shirt, and snuffled, too, so that his voice wouldn't sound all funny because he had been crying, a little, yes, but still...sixteen-year-old pony boys weren't supposed to cry in the first place. His chest and throat hurt a little, still, but it wasn't bad...not worse than when he fell with his bicycle and landed on his front...now that HURT...so this was not nearly as bad.

He was worried, though, and unsure of what to do next, or say next, as he tried to meet Brand's eyes.

"Uhh..Brand..."

"What?" the answer was snapped and sounded distant, and he didn't turn to look directly at Jeff.

Jeff's ears flicked nervously as he spoke.

"I'm sorry, Brand, I didn't want to scare you like this."

Jeff's whole dark gaze was now subjected to him as he glared at his young intruder.

"Well maybe you shouldn't have started to MESS AROUND with other furs' business in the first place, kid!" the pony grunted.

Jeff sighed.

"I said I'm sorry," he looked down to his own hooves and sighed again, feeling dejected now that his great plan had been proven to be a big steaming piece of crap.

Just what the fuck had he been thinking, coming here as if it was certain that a little bit of blackmail was going to turn the pony into his personal sex slave who would do anything to him, just so that Jeff would never tell Adam about what had happened in the older pony's bedroom. Just how fucking ludicrous had he been? Jeff's cheeks burned with shame as he recounted the numerous lustful moments he had already spent imagining all the certain things he had in mind that he could try out with Brand, all these sexy, arousing things he couldn't stop thinking about...

...and here he was...having ruined it all by acting like a kid, and making sure that the pony would never look at him the same again. They could never be friends anymore, they could not look each other in the eye, and he would never get a ride to school on Brand's car. Maybe Brand would even become so weird with Jeff that he didn't want to be friends with Adam anymore...that'd mean that Jeff had ruined his big brother's BEST friendship forever... and he knew that Adam and Brand had been friends for like ten years. It just wasn't good at all.

The corners of his eyes burned again, and Jeff snuffled, his throat felt like it was trying to close up on itself, a sure sign that he might actually sob, soon, and he really didn't want to start crying again. Maybe he should just leave...promise that he'd delete the photo, just leave, and hope that things would sort themselves out on their own...just let it be...forget it ever happened...pretend that it never happened, this, or what Brand did in Adam's room yesterday, surely he just imagined things.

Jeff snuffled again and lifted his head up, and realized that Brand was looking at him, with sharp eyes, fixed on him, staring him from the other side of the room. He was unwavering as he looked back at the younger pony, and while he was still breathing hard, his ears were not flicking wildly anymore, but were as perky as always. His tail betrayed him, however, with its nervous flicks back and forth. Brand's arms were folded over his wide chest, and Jeff could see how the muscles bulged with effort to keep them steady.

Brand chuffed.

"Are you seriously telling me..." he snorted, "...that you did ALL this...so that you could talk to ME about YOU being gay?"

"About us being gay," Jeff spoke, resolute that he wouldn't pretend otherwise. "Nothing more and nothing involving anyone else."

He breathed out slowly and decided that the small lie of not mentioning the hot gay sex blackmail part was probably a wise thing to make, now that they were at least talking and Brand wasn't trying to kill him like before when he thought that Jeff was threatening him with telling the world that Brand was queer.

The pony's features darkened even now, though, and he opened his maw to say something, probably something nasty, but he held it back, and simply huffed, and flicked his ears, audibly.

"Oh, really?" Brand sounded derisive.

Jeff snuffled in reply.

"Wouldn't you want to know that you're not alone in this world?" he spoke then, in a quiet voice. "The only one who's...different..."

He breathed out deeply.

Brand frowned a bit as well, and his ears flicked, but at least he didn't laugh or anything.

"Never said that it wasn't cool that you're...gay, Jeff, but what you did today's just fucking messed up, dude!" his voice rose again as another burst of anger took him, it seemed, before it ebbed away ,and he just stood there, clutching protective over his own body as he stared at the seated pony.

Jeff snorted.

"Don't I know..." he sighed, feeling smaller and more insignificant than ever before.

The uneasy silence reigned for another long pause before Brand spoke again.

"You know long?" it sounded almost like an accidental question, simply bursting off his lips.

Jeff's ears perked at the surprising inquiry, but he didn't hear anything derisive about it, and decided to give a truthful answer.

"Since I was thirteen I guess...," he spoke in that same quiet, unsure voice he hated when it came out of his muzzle. "Started to notice boys and not girls...I guess..."

He didn't tell that the then-fifteen-year-old Brand Rockford fresh out of the gym after one of his very first weightlifting sessions had been pretty much a major early indication alright, when the sight of the young, braces-wearing pony had caused a strange rush of blood to Jeff's lower regions.

He'd never thought braces to be sexy before, though Brand was definitely sexier now that he didn't have them anymore, just clean, straight teeth.

Brand snuffled.

"Right," he clicked his tongue and sounded uneasy with the subject.

"Never had a boyfriend or anything..." Jeff added, meekly.

Brand snorted and nickered quietly, and again did that head throw thing, obviously nervous again, uneasy...not really knowing how to talk about something like this.

"Your parents know about that? Does...Adam know?"

Jeff shook his head quickly.

"Never told anyone except you, Brand."

"Okay."

Jeff rubbed his chest slowly, lightly going over the tattered front of his short and wondered idly how he could explain this to his parents, while he slowly began to calm down, feel more normal about this. He still didn't know how things were going to turn out, honestly, he had no idea...he knew he had screwed up, and he still didn't know about the true consequences of his attempt to...his desperate attempt to get closer to the boy of his dreams, Brand...whom he had obviously now hurt so badly that he'd probably never forgive him.

"And you sure? Never tried...not to?"

Jeff almost chuckled, throatily.

"Isn't that the first thing you try when you feel like that?" he cocked an ear at the older pony as he gave Brand a pointed look. "Watched all the nastiest porn I could find but all I could look was the guys in the videos. Gave up trying to be straight pretty fast and then just kept my muzzle shut about it."

Brand simply nodded, silently, barely meeting Jeff's gaze.

Jeff seriously wanted to ask the older pony whether he had done the same or felt the same, but he didn't want to destroy this tentative peace that had been reached between them for the moment.

"That's about it I guess," he rubbed the back of his neck now, thankfully not too sore even from being slammed over the table so roughly before.

Brand gave him another of those long looks.

"Guess we both now know a secret about the other we don't want anyone else to hear, Jeff?" the younger pony flinched at the way Brand spoke his name, so...sharply , that it made his ears flatten, if briefly.

"With the difference that I've got the picture you only have my word," Jeff spoke back, noting the fact. Unless Brand had been secretly recording this talk, of course...then they would be even when it came to electronic surveillance.

Brand snorted at the mention of the picture and shook his head, before he spoke again.

"I bet neither of us wants any trouble, yeah?" his eyes were heavy on Jeff's.

The young pony shook his big head.

"Of course not."

"Good."

"Yeah."

The skin at the back of Jeff's neck prickled as he sat there, being stared by the agitated muscular jock, the only fur in this world who now knew his secret...while he, Jeff, held one of Brand's secrets in his own hand as well. The earlier feeling of power he had experienced on realizing the fact was now almost gone, and definitely only felt sour, not cool at all, since it had led to so much trouble in such a short time.

"How'd you get here anyway?" Brand snorted.

"Took my bike," Jeff replied, almost absently.

"Woohoo," Brand chuckled darkly.

"It's behind the house, in case you wondered," Jeff replied.

The bigger pony shrugged.

"You're a really sneaky shit aren't you?" he flashed his teeth at Jeff again.

"Guess I can be," Jeff snorted, and didn't add the part that when you had to live through the lie of being straight every day, it was kind of part of who he had grown to be, but making gay rights statements to someone in such obvious denial was not something he wanted to try now.

The older pony grunted and harrumphed and vigorously rubbed the side of his neck, and his hoof clapped against the hardwood floor when he adjusted his posture.

"You look a mess," he observed.

"So do you, "Jeff noted, pointing at the Brand's jeans that had juice stains all over them from the time when he had dropped the glass and it had splashed everywhere.

Brand glanced down at himself and grunted.

"Fuck."

"I could...uhh...help you clean it up or something," he offered, hoping that such an honest helping hand would be accepted.

"It's better I don't let you mess around any more around here," Brand gave his own opinion on the matter and ended any further complaints.

Jeff's ears dropped, but he gave a quick nod, and coughed, quickly, getting the last remains of that bad almost-crying feeling out of it as he now felt much calmer and better than before, now that they weren't arguing or fighting anymore. Brand seemed to take notice, too, because he gave him another of those looks.

"You sure you okay?"

"Yeah," Jeff gave his throat a quick pat and even smiled a little.

"You...uh...want a Coke or something?" he asked, quickly.

Jeff's ears flicked with surprise at the sudden offer, but it didn't sound so bad...at least it was a friendly gesture...maybe it meant that he hadn't ruined everything between them just yet.

"Yeah, that'd be okay."

"Come on, but mind the glass, okay?"

"Of course."

They entered the kitchen, and Jeff remained near the door and watched how Brand fetched a broom and a dustpan and began to scoop up the huge mess from the floor. He seemed a bit clumsy at doing it, too, and it took a while.

"Just get that Coke from the fridge and sit down, okay?"

Jeff avoided the biggest pieces of glass he could see as he went over to the fridge and pulled out the indicated beverage before sitting down on a tall stool that was really pretty much like the ones they had at home, too. He opened his can with a hiss and took a deep ship, which felt cold and soothing over his once achy throat as well, and made him smile, just a little, with the familiar taste.

"Fucking shit," Brand muttered under his breath, "it's everywhere."

"Sorry," Jeff rumbled.

"Damn sticky stuff," Brand seemed to find comfort in continued complaints, and he did as much as he went around the kitchen, sweeping up all the juice and glass he could before depositing it into the trashcan under the sink.

Jeff simply sat there and kept occasionally sipping from his Coke, not wanting to distract the pony when he was obviously so much on the edge. Even then he couldn't help but notice how nice Brand looked, of course, even when he was doing something as girly as mopping up the floor...those arms had not lost any of their firm, fleshy thickness as he operated the cleaning appliance. Jeff mentally told himself off for it and took another sip of Coke, just to distract himself from the ideas that got him in trouble in the first place.

"This floor's ruined," Brand declared as he stomped it quickly with one of his shoe-covered hooves, and then decided that there was nothing more he could do and simply went over to the sink to wash his hands before he, too, went by the fridge for a Coke.

"Thanks for the Coke, by the way," Jeff tried small talk, now that the hunky pony sat down next to him and opened his own can before sipping what seemed like to be half of it at one go, and followed by a loud belch.

Brand snorted the bubbles out of his nose and then just sat there, pretty much like his usual self, except for that cocky, broad smile. Jeff felt a little bit better for that, and dared to smile a little himself, quickly, but didn't really want to push anything on, now that he had apparently managed to stop things from melting down immediately.

"Sure," the big pony huffed out a Coke-smelling breath and scratched his muzzle, the very same muzzle that had that nice dark stubble over it.

For a while, it was just the two of them sipping their sodas and not speaking to another. Jeff had the feeling that Brand didn't much want to talk to him, anyway, after all that had happened...after how he had made everything seem so damn complicated. There hadn't been desperate confessions, or demands to keep everything secret, maybe a few lewd comment and a knowing wink or two...but there they were...uneasy as fuck and not talking, nor doing anything except pretending to be thin air to one another. Guess even that was better than Brand beating his face muzzle to a pulp.

"I think I should go, Brand," Jeff spoke after a moment, tentatively.

The big pony's eyes turned at him, impassive, frowning a little.

"Guess you've caused enough trouble for one day," he grunted.

"I have, yeah," Jeff flicked an ear, quickly. "I...well...you know."

"Yeah, you're sorry about the photo and the mess and you just wanted to talk, I get it, punk," Brand waved a quick hand at him, and bared his teeth. "Just...don't go talking anything weird to anyone, okay?"

The tone was almost normal, but Jeff knew that it was a threat, a quiet one.

"Yeah, of course not...I mean...I wouldn't really want you to go talking either to Adam or...anyone," Jeff replied, trying to keep calm.

"Good," the big pony harrumphed. "Then we have a deal."

"Yeah, I guess we do."

Brand took a final sip out of his can before he squeezed it flat in his palm, just like that, with a loud crunching sound. That odd feeling in Jeff's belly jumped again at the sight and sound, and his tail flicked nervously.

"Yeah...well...yeah, guess I have to go," he said as he got off to his hooves, leaving his Coke half-drank.

He was already at the door when Brand spoke again.

"See you around, kiddo."

Jeff turned his head a little, nodded, and left the house with slow, measured steps that would not show how nervous he was.

*

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Cheerio!