Chapter One
It was June 2003, when Anne Cox and Johanna (Jay) Tomlinson made a decision that would alter the lives of their families; the pair had been best friends since they met together in college many years ago. Their friendship survived many ups and downs, many broken relationships and life shattering experiences. They shared more than a bond, they shared their families. When Anne fell pregnant with her first child, she was only 20 years old, and no-where near ready to commit to one man.

It was Jay, who attending her best friend’s birthing classes, it was Jay who attended each and every doctor’s appointment, and again it was Jay who was there in the operating room to witness the very first breath of air that young Gemma Styles took after a long 14 hour labor, one that almost killed her poor mother.

Jay had always been there as a second mother to both of Anne’s kids, they were a family in a way, one that wouldn’t ever leave like the father the kids barely knew. Anne had taken no help from her parents with the raising of her baby girl, she would attend night classes, leaving Jay to babysit during the evening so she could still pass her degree.

It was those two women who raised that beautiful young woman for the first years of her life. Gemma’s father wanted nothing to do with the child who he claimed to be of no genetic relations to himself, it was insulting to poor Anne who still loved the fool, having been accused of cheated on the one boy she had ever loved.

It was on Gemma’s first birthday when Jay first laid eyes on Troy, her heart skipped a beat at his muscular body, the way his hair messily laid across his broad shoulders made her giggle uncontrollably at the thought of running her fingers through his luscious locks. He noticed her interest in himself, and like any cocky college athlete he took it upon himself to muster up an introduction.

The night of their first date, the two girls argued. Anne was pushing for Jay to go through with it, it was always that way with Anne, pushing for her best friend to get out more. Jay was the quiet type, she preferred a good book over a night of dancing, but that was the date that Troy had invited her on, that was the date her dream man had planned for her.

As Jay looks back on that evening now, she doesn’t regret it at all. It doesn’t even matter that she no longer speaks to Troy, or that the evening of their first date didn’t go how she planned. Troy gave her the most important thing in the world, and she wouldn’t change that evening for anything.

It doesn’t even matter that she walked back into that dorm room at half 2, that morning tears streaking down her cheeks as she tried to tip-toe past Anne and Gemma who had fallen asleep in their clothes. It didn’t matter that she felt disgusted with herself for going all the way with a boy she hardly even knew. That was all just a distant memory now.

A month later when Anne was banging on the bathroom door impatiently calling through to her best friend, desperately awaiting her test results, that moment the two best friends became more than that. They were like sisters who shared a story, best friends who had both fallen pregnant while studying, two best friends who would now struggle for the rest of their lives as single mothers. They both had a new bond to share, and that only made them closer. It’s not that they didn’t hear the rumors, the accusations weren’t very pleasant, Jay didn’t fall pregnant on purpose, there was no ‘pregnancy pact’ that very ideal was ridiculous!

The two girls never once turned their backs on each other, not even when Jay caught Anne doing the unthinkable, no matter how daft she thought her friend was being, she never once abandoned her in her time of need.

When Anne announced her engagement to Gemma’s father, it was Jay who was there to jump for joy at her friends expense, although she didn’t approve of this plan, she wasn’t going to be the one to dampen her friend’s happiness. She was the one who made sure Gemma was dressed properly the day of the wedding in her cream silk dress and her tie up sandals.

Jay was the one who walked that little girl down that aisle, wiping her grubby nose as snot icicled down her chin, she was always a second mother to that little princess, even with her own throbbing belly in the way, as her dress flowed off her enormous baby bump at the near end of her last trimester. She stood by Anne as she recited her vows, contracting herself into a marriage with a man who once disowned her love.

Louis Troy Austin was born on December 24th after only a short labor, unlike that of Anne’s. Jay was relieved having her best friend right beside her holding her hand, talking her through the process of which she was pushing an over sized baby out of her body. She felt as though she would have never been able to do it without Anne by her side, without the support of the phenomenal best friend who had already been there for her every step of the way since they had met the very first day at uni orientation, it was as if the pair had known each other their entire lives, it was something neither of them had ever experienced.

Looking back at it now, it would be one of the many favoured moments shared between the two girls, just as all births of their children would have been added to that list in the years to come. Adjustment had never been an issue for the pair who went home to having another screaming baby keep them from sleeping.

It was enough to eventuate into Jay dropping out of her courses, to take care of her new born son. Since she was no longer partaking in study, the woman had to seek out other living arrangements. The emotional goodbyes shared between the two girls and their babies, was one of the saddest moments shared between the friends as Jay drove away in the back of the taxi, to losing touch with her best friend for two years.

With a two year old boy in her arms the day Jay saw her best friend again was filled with mixed emotions, she arrived at the Holmes Chapel hospital to be greeted by a three year old Gemma in the midst of a tantrum at her father’s feet as her poor mother was away in the delivery room, ready to meet her baby boy for the very first time.

When asking why he wasn’t in there with her, her best friend’s husband informed her that Anne refused to give birth with anyone who wasn’t Jay beside her. It was that very day in early February that Jay assisted in the delivery of her best friend’s baby, it was that very day that she decided she wanted to go back into study, that she wanted to be a nurse.

Divorce papers came and passed, Anne lost all hope in love at that point. It wasn’t her fault that she had given her heart to the wrong man, it wasn’t her fault at all, Jay tried convincing her of this but it was no use, her friend was filled to the brim with self pity and blame. She couldn’t do anything about it at all.

Living miles away in her parents basement all the way in Doncaster, it didn’t help Anne out at all. The two wrote each other every week, and shared late night calls on the telephone when their children were tucked away in bed, but that was the only contact the girls kept for a few more years at least.

The next meeting the girls shared was the day Jay was to wed her new man, Mark Tomlinson. She had promised herself she wouldn’t sleep with another man until she was happily married and on her honeymoon, and that was a promise she kept this time, a promise that Mark had respected, he was quite a gentleman compared to her other lovers, it was something that Anne admired about him and although she had only heard of him through letters, she already knew she was going to love him as much as Jay promised she would.

Five year old Louis was busy chasing Gemma around the wedding reception when Anne finally had a proper chance to catch up with her best friend. The two shared everything they had left out of their letters, they talked until they couldn’t talk anymore, and they shared the odd giggle and the occasional bottle of red wine, Anne’s favourite choice of liquor.

Jay finally graduated her nursing degree, while Anne jumped from job to job, the two women managed to visit each other once every few months, Mark and Anne got on like a house on fire which helped a hell of a lot when it came to the visits, it made Anne feel at ease when staying over at her friend’s place with two kids under the age of 8.

Jay was always looking forward to Anne’s visits, they seemed to be the highlight of her year, and Mark knew this, he knew that Jay’s life was lacking in excitement which was why he came up with a suggestion, this suggestion shocked Jay at first, she was both scared and thrilled, excited at the same time. Of course she wanted more kids!

Another baby in her life, one with the man she loved and cared for? As a little girl she always imagined having a large family, and Mark was the same. It was two children later when Jay started to feel the love she had for her husband disappearing. It’s not that she didn’t want to love him, it’s just her priorities were settled in with her children, and her job. They started to fight on a regular basis, and Louis was old enough to notice this. He was always trying to intervene, the gorgeous 10 year old felt it was his duty to stop his ‘parents’ fighting, Mark was the only father Louis had ever known, and he didn’t like the way his parents talked to each other.

To Louis’ dismay, Mark drove off with a suitcase of all his belongings three weeks after his 11th birthday, it was a day filled with tears for all of them, he was the one who comforted his mother and his sisters, he didn’t know what else to do.

Jay spent that entire weekend on the phone to Anne, hoping that she would have the right words to say, and she did of course, she always did. It was that weekend when everything changed for both families. Both mothers sat their children down to announce the news, they were all moving into a new house with a family they visited a few times a year, the family of their mother’s best friend. They were going to adjust to a new lifestyle, and that’s exactly what they did.
XXX

June 9th
“Oh you wanker!” Seventeen year old Harry Styles yelled through his headset, he was partaking in a thrilling battle against his best mate Liam Payne in a match of COD, the two of them had been battling out via the video game for at least four hours, give or take ten minutes for their well earned toilet breaks.

“Hey! It’s not my fault you lack in any form of skill” Liam shot back as the two of them clicked furiously through their devices, when Harry thought about it he would never have picked that he would ever be spending a Sunday afternoon playing video games with Liam Payne. Harry used to view Liam as a type cast nerd, the loner types who nobody took any serious notice of at school. It wasn’t until Harry’s best mate, brother-like roommate Louis Tomlinson had moved off to university did Harry consider Liam as a friend. It was wrong of him, he knew this but it was the truth.

It was inevitable that Louis would rank higher over any of Harry’s other friends considering they had shared a room for almost ten years. From the moment their mothers decided the living arrangement, Harry and Louis had been forced into an unlikely friendship. Being the only males in the household, it was often that they battled for dominance, but the pair had always been closer than brothers. Gemma had moved out a year before Louis had and although the spare room was on offer neither boys ever moved out of their shared living space.

When Jay gave birth to the twins, the boys took it upon themselves to take one girl each to look after in an odd competition of who was a better ‘father figure’ to the little girls, not that anyone minded the extra help around the house anyway. When the time came for Louis to finally move out, it was clear that Harry took it harder than Jay who took it pretty hard herself. Harry didn’t like spending time in his bedroom by himself, in fact it took him months before he would willingly hang out in there on his own, he never formally admitted it to anyone, but everyone knew that’s why he was always out in the house looking for company, even if it were to help either Anne or Jay cooking dinner.
“I do not lack in skills Payne! You are just a sneaky bastard!” Harry yelled back at him as he continued to play the game, completely oblivious to the phone that was vibrating beside him. He was so enwrapped in the game that he didn’t see it light up, he didn’t notice the caller ID either.

Louis Tomlinson

Louis had grown up since his departure from Doncaster, he had grown older but certainly not wiser, his life at uni, wasn’t in the academic nature in the slightest. He spent his nights with his face, not in books but in other educational places. Louis was all for experimentation, in the few short months since he had arrived, Louis had definitely never passed on a dare. He was known for his character, the tendency to give everything ago was what he was famous for around campus. Louis had quite the reputation among both the male and female population.

Louis had never dreamed that one day he would ever have even the slightest interest in boys until he enrolled into college, and quite frankly, he now could never imagine himself not having a liking in both genders. He didn’t know if it were the threesomes or the one on ones that he enjoyed the most, but the attraction was definitely there.

Nobody at home knew about his new sexual activities, and Louis didn’t care if they did, he just didn’t feel the need to open up to them, it wasn’t exactly a topic he cared to bring up in a phone call to his mother. It wasn’t exactly someone he wanted to email to Harry either. He hadn’t even thought about how he would tell them, he just assumed that he could cross that bridge when he came to it.

“Lou, what are you doing?” A gruff voice mumble from underneath Louis’ cum stained bed sheets, Louis rolled over so he was nose to nose with the Irish boy, his legs making their way around the male’s thighs as he pulled him closer.

“Nothing, just checking my voicemail” He told him lazily, Niall wasn’t exactly a boyfriend, they weren’t exclusive in anyway but yes, Louis had slept with him more than anybody else. It was almost to a point where his bed felt unfamiliar if the blonde boy wasn’t laying beside of him every morning, or in this case, every afternoon. The pair of them had a long night of partying, they didn’t get to bed til at least 3 AM, and even then, they weren’t exactly sleeping. It was a routine, Saturday nights were party nights, nobody went to bed before 2, and nobody woke up until it was at least lunch time on Sunday, at first Louis could hardly keep up but like every new student he finally got the hang of it.

“My arse hurts.” Niall complained with a tired chuckle, Louis smirked at this familiar remark, Niall was always full of similar complaints every time they shagged. The pair of them had both come to college straight, and both shared the experiences of the college experimentation. Louis lightly pressed his lips against the lower lip of the boy who he was firmly pressed against.

“There is a reason for that Ni,” He whispered cheekily as his arms wrapped around the boy, one hand running down the other boy’s crack, gently rubbing along his sore features, just like he always did after a rough night. “I worked hard to make it so.” He added as Niall made effort to kiss him back, his puckered lips were red raw from a night of passion, Louis was always a rough kisser it was one of him most common complaints he had endured throughout high school, he was glad to finally put it to good use, boys never complained over rough kisses, it seemed he truly had been missing his calling all those years.

“I don’t mind it actually” Niall soon responded, he had grown used to the burning sensation especially since he only ever bottomed with Louis, it was their thing. Nobody else would let Louis top, and Niall liked the way Louis took control of him, it was probably the only reason why they kept coming back to each other. Their relationship had no romance in it at all, they weren’t like that with each other at all. Kissing, Sucking, Biting and Fucking. That’s what was allowed, feelings definitely were not invited.

“I am going to go make some tea, would you like a cup?” Louis asked him nicely, Niall had not once taken him up on the offer, but Louis liked to ask him anyway. Niall shook his head like he did every other time, and Louis took that as his cue to climb out of bed.

Louis was still very much the same boy he had always been back home, he still needed a spot of tea to kick start him every morning, he still enjoyed reading the news updates on his phone, he still thought it was M-ic-donalds instead of M-ac-donalds and he still never handed his homework in on time. The only real difference between this Louis and the old Louis, was the sex, and the amounts of it. It’s not like he graduated a virgin, but he had only slept with one person before leaving, and that was his first girlfriend, Hannah. She was one of the only people who knew the truth about him back home and she wasn’t at all surprised.

That phone call had taken place the morning after his first homosexual encounter, the pair had broken up years ago, but Louis still considered her one of his closest friends. He didn’t know if that was because she liked him, or if it was because of the past they shared, but he didn’t mind one bit.

“So, you slept with him? Or you just sucked his dick?” She asked after he had rambled the story out to her in as much detail as he could remember. Louis had to think for a moment, he had been a little drunk when it all happened, so recalling details wasn’t exactly his specialty right then and there.

“Erm, both. I sucked his dick and then he fucked me.” He said shakily, hoping she wouldn’t laugh or hang up on him. She didn’t do either of those things, in fact Louis was surprised by her response actually. You would think your first love would have judged you on all your future endeavors, but not Hannah, she had the heart to see past any personal attachment or history they had shared, and to see this issue as the friend Louis both loved her for and needed desperately.

“Did you like it? I mean, it sounds like you did.” She said chirpily, she was excited for her friend, this was a big deal for him, for anyone who has ever been in that position. It must have been confusing, she assumed to herself silently. She knew it was on his mind otherwise he would never have called her in the first place.

“Yeah, I really did.” He admitted, giving her his honest answer. That’s all she needed to know, that was all anyone would ever need to know of his sexuality. She let out a low hum as if to say she was thinking about what to say. She didn’t want to say the wrong thing and come off as an amateur even though that was exactly what she was in this scenario.

“Well, I hope you’re prepared to join the bisexual community Lou.”

Now as Louis stood in his kitchenette naked, dipping his teabag into a cup of boiling hot water, Louis couldn’t help but think of what Harry was up to, and why he never answered his call. It irked Louis how Harry never had time for him any longer, the two boys had practically been raised as brothers, it really made him feel awful how every time he called, Harry was either too busy, or too out of it to share a proper conversation with him. He missed that lazy bugger, the same boy he shared a room with for most of his life, that same boy who he used to compete with over everything was suddenly mister big shot, I have no time for my older brother. It just hurt him a little, he really cared for Harry in fact he possibly cared too much.