Author's Note: So I don't know if you guys saw my status but JCING ranked #510 in teen fiction this past week which is the highest a book of mine has ever ranked so thank you guys so so much. And here - as promised - is your weekly update. School is killing me but I still wrote this for you guys :) This chapter is dedicated to @Shipper_24 for leaving such a sweet comment on the last chapter.

"Isaac I asked for self-raising flour, these cakes are not going to raise themselves without our help."

"Chill Daniel, I'll go get the proper flour."

"Isaac we have an hour to bake about a hundred cakes, I am not going to 'chill'."

Out of the corner of his eye Daniel can see Isaac and Jonah share an eye roll but he elects to ignore it because Daniel is stressed, and he feels that he is well within his rights to feel that way. He's not sure what it is, but there's something about the pressure of baking that gets to him, the fact that what he's making could all too easily turn out wrong and then what a waste of ingredients that would be.

"Seriously Daniel," Jonah says, "there's three of us involved; I think we've got this. And I think we're making a few less than a hundred."

"They do say that too many cooks spoil the broth though," Daniel points out.

"It's a good job we're not making soup then."

"Shut the fuck up Zach."

The kitchen falls silent after that and Daniel busies himself with making sure he has all the ingredients out on the surface and that he knows exactly what he has to do.

"Right," he says, "Isaac you weigh out the butter and sugar, I'll start creaming them together. Jonah you're in charge of cracking the eggs and whisking them."

The three of them set to work and Daniel is glad to see that the other boys are actually agreeing to follow his instructions rather than mess about; it's not often that that actually happens. But the pair can obviously sense that Daniel is on edge and so they don't complain and just get on with it, Daniel is not sure he can quantify exactly how relieved he is about that.

He sets to work with a wooden spoon, mixing the ingredients until they look like a substance that might actually be edible.

"You know we could just eat the cake batter," Isaac mutters when Daniel hands him another bag of flour, "it tastes better uncooked anyway."

He soon shuts up when he notices Daniel's glare.

"Why are you making so many cupcakes?" Jonah asks after a while.

He's taken a break from singing along to the radio to talk to Daniel and Daniel doesn't miss the celebratory expression that crosses Isaac's face when Jonah does so. Jonah may be a great person but his singing skills could really do with some improvement.

"It's for a bake sale," Daniel replies, "I already told you that."

He tries not to let the exasperation slip into his tone but it's difficult; he's really not in the mood for repeating answers over and over again.

"Yeah but why are you making so many of them? Usually when there's a bake sale people just turn up with a batch of twelve and that's enough, we're making like sixty."

"Mum likes to help out," Daniel says shrugging.

"She's not even baking them," Jonah points out.

"It's just tradition for us to bake a lot okay Jonah."

Daniel doesn't mean to let the harshness come through but he can't help it. He doesn't know why it's there really, he's just sick of Jonah seemingly questioning everything. Perhaps it's because it seems like Daniel is the only one who cares about the stupid tradition anymore. It's not his mother's fault, and Daniel knows that, but he still can't help but wonder at which point traditions like these became less important than work. And when she started to forget that these traditions existed entirely. Daniel is pretty sure he couldn't ask for a better mother but that doesn't stop him from occasionally feeling like she's leaving him behind.

Jonah doesn't push it and Daniel mentally thanks him. Right now he wants to focus on the cupcakes; they have to be perfect, each year they have to be better than the last.

Daniel is just about to start spooning the batter into the cupcake cases when he feels something hit his cheek. It's something dry and powdery and Daniel turns to Jonah with an unimpressed expression on his face.

"Really?" He asks.

"I have no idea what you're on about."

Isaac sniggers but quietens down when Daniel fixes his gaze on him.

"Why is there flour on my face?"

"You must have done it by accident," Isaac says, his tone sugary sweet, "maybe you wiped your face with a dirty hand or something."

Daniel knows they're lying, but he also knows they're not going to admit to that and so he turns away from them and refocuses his attention on the batter. A spoonful into each of the cases.

He's about halfway through when he feels something else hit him. This one is sticky and Daniel is about to kill Isaac for wasting batter.

"Seriously guys?"

"What's wrong?" Jonah asks feigning ignorance. "What have you got on your face?"

They're good actors Daniel will give them that, or at least he would have done until the pair caught each other's eyes and let out snorts, then, not so much.

"You're so immature," Daniel says shaking his head, "I honestly have no idea why I'm friends with the two of you."

"I honestly don't know what you're on about," Isaac tells him, "what have we supposedly done."

Daniel raises his eyebrows in disbelief; surely they can't keep this up for that much longer?

It turns out that they can. Daniel turns back to the baking and has just finished placing a single spoonful of batter into each of the cupcake cases when he feels something land on the top of his head. When he spots a lock of hair coated in white he turns to the other two boys with a glare.

"I could deal with it before guys," Daniel says, "but the hair? Seriously? You don't mess with the hair."

"Oh wow," Jonah says, "are you thinking of going white for your next hair colour."

Isaac laughs. Daniel starts to plot revenge.

xxx

Jonah isn't sure he'll ever get bored of the exasperated expression on Daniel's face. He just looks so 'done' and Jonah is perhaps finding it slightly funnier than he should do. He's trying to contain his laughter, not wanting to antagonise Daniel any further despite how funny his facial expressions may be.

"I was considering it," Daniel replies coolly, "but I'm just not sure."

By Jonah's side Isaac is doubled over and it briefly occurs to Jonah that the two of them are definitely finding this way too funny, but there's just something so great about feigning ignorance, especially when Daniel is involved. And Jonah knows that these cupcakes are very important to Daniel but that doesn't mean that the three of them can't have a little bit of fun, it was the only reason that Jonah was convinced to come after all, he thought it would be a good time and so he's going to throw flour at Daniel no matter what.

Jonah is so distracted by watching Isaac nearly crying from laughter that the can only stand in shock for a few moments when he feels batter hit him directly in the chest.

"You didn't," he says looking up from his shirt towards Daniel.

"Oh I did."

Isaac seems to have picked up on what has happened by now and has not started to laugh at Jonah too. That doesn't last long though. Flour really does not look good thrown all over Isaac's black t-shirt, and Isaac seems to be very annoyed about that fact.

"What the hell Dan?"

"What's happened? Oops, how did you possibly get that flour all over your shirt?"

Sarcasm drips from Daniel's every word and Jonah is thrilled that he is finally joining in. Isaac doesn't seem quite so thrilled about Daniel's participation but there's still a lopsided smile on his face none the less.

"I have no idea," Isaac replies in much the same tone, "it's almost as if somebody just threw flour at me."

"But who would do that?" Daniel asks, a small smile toying at the corners of his mouth

"Some dickhead no doubt."

"They probably had their reasons."

"Like what?"

"Like the fact that you're annoying as hell," Daniel says teasingly, "or that you think reading One Direction erotica is a good use of your time."

"That was a onetime thing!"

Jonah looks between the two of them in confusion, because one minute they were talking about flour and the next they're moved onto an entirely different topic of conversation. Jonah is starting to realise that he often struggles to keep up with conversation between Daniel and Isaac as they flit from one subject to another with ease. He presumes it's something that will get easier with time, after all the two of them have been best friends ever since Daniel arrived.

Daniel can obviously read the clueless expression on Jonah's face as he looks over and lets out a giggle.

Briefly a smile slips onto Jonah's face too and then he feels an egg splatter against his forehead and it suddenly disappears. As Jonah begins to feel the yolk drip down the rest of his face he looks up and glares. It does not take him long to figure out which one of the boys is responsible; Daniel actually looks slightly concerned whereas Isaac is bent over, clutching his stomach and holding onto the countertop to stop himself from falling to the floor.

Jonah simply throws some batter back at him in return.

Isaac barely acts as if he notices, simply attempts to wipe the substance off of his arm and onto the table. It doesn't work; instead all he manages to accomplish is to spread the batter over a larger area of his skin.

"I think we should maybe stop now," Daniel suggests, "remember we have to clean up whatever mess we make."

Jonah can see where he is coming from, could see that stopping would probably be a good idea. However that doesn't mean that he is going to go along with it. Jonah is a firm believer that Daniel needs to have more fun, and this is surely one way of getting that plan started. And so Jonah wipes the spoon in his hand across Daniel's face. Daniel simply watches on in silence as Jonah slides the spoon from his forehead, down the bridge of his nose and further down until he reaches Daniel's chin.

"I can't believe you just did that."

Smirking, Jonah reaches over and swipes his finger over part of the trail just below Daniel's lips before sampling the batter.

"It tastes nice," Jonah says, "I think we did good."

"I think we'd be doing a lot better if this batter was in the cases rather than spread across my face," Daniel deadpans.

"Hmm, but that would be nowhere near as fun."

Jonah thinks that Daniel is about to reply but instead he watches as Daniel dips his hands into the flour and smears it all across Jonah's black skinny jeans.

"Dude," Jonah says, "these are my favourite pair of jeans."

"I'm sure it'll wash out."

"And what if it doesn't?" Jonah asks raising his eyebrows.

"Then you'll just have to deal with it."

Jonah has almost forgotten that Isaac is in the room as well, that is until he feels something suspiciously damp fall down the back of his shirt and slide down his back.

"What the hell?"

When he begins to feel parts of egg shell prodding into his skin he starts to realise what has happened. He whirls around to face Isaac with a glare.

"Down the back dude? That's a low blow."

Daniel doesn't join him in his annoyance; instead he's too busy trying to fish the egg out of the back of his own shirt. It appears that Isaac did not only target Jonah, for some reason that makes Jonah more annoyed.

"You were distracted," Isaac says simply, as if that explains everything, "I couldn't waste the opportunity."

Jonah's mouth is open, ready for him to reply but he's interrupted.

"What the hell is going on here?"

xxx

As soon as Daniel hears his brother's voice he stands a little straighter. He's almost afraid to turn around, the childish part of Daniel's brain suggesting that if he can't see Marcus then Marcus can't see him. He knows it's stupid and most definitely untrue but that doesn't stop Daniel from wishing that it wasn't.

"I said what the hell is going on here?" Marcus asks once again, his voice is loud and Daniel almost feels as if the ground he is standing on shakes as Marcus shouts.

Daniel slowly turns around to face his brother. Has to blink to remind himself not to be afraid. That even though his brother is six foot, he still doesn't deserve for Daniel to be afraid of him.

"We're baking," Daniel says meekly.

"And does baking require you to throw food at each other?"

"No," Daniel whispers.

"Then why are you?" His brother hisses. "Do I need to remind you that that's money wasted that you're throwing at each other? I don't even know why I agreed to pay for this anyway."

Daniel desperately wants to tell his brother that actually he didn't pay for any of this, that Daniel paid for this all with money from his job at the bookshop last summer and that actually Daniel thinks that this is a perfectly decent way for him to spend his money. But Daniel doesn't, he never thought he would.

"Sorry."

"You better be."

Daniel stays silent, he has a feeling Marcus isn't quite finished just yet.

"This is all you do," his brother tells him, "make a mess. Of everything. I don't know why I expected anything different from you."

"Sorry."

"Remember Dad could have kicked you out. Any sensible man would have done and I certainly would have done. You're lucky mum and dad thought differently else you'd be out on the streets right now with nowhere to go. You're a freak of nature Daniel and you're lucky I let you anyway near me. How would you survive if you had nowhere to go?"

"I wouldn't."

Daniel knows exactly the right reply to this. Marcus gives variations of this speech at every opportunity. Ever since Daniel came out, his brother has been eager to remind him that he'd rather Daniel didn't exist, or at least was no longer visible.

"That's right; you wouldn't cope without your video games or mum waiting on you. Would you? It's such a shame that you're nothing like me."

"It is."

"But it's just a little bit too much effort for you to be anything like me. You can't make this easy for any of us; well maybe you could try trying a little harder."

"I'll try," Daniel promises, desperation leaking into his tone, "I promise."

With that Daniel's brother turns to leave and Daniel flinches as if he is about to hit him. Marcus has never laid a hand on him, has never even attempted to, but for some reason Daniel almost wishes he had. At least that way he's have some physical mark to show how much he hates the boy but instead all there is is an invisible stain on his heart, and there's no point in trying to show people that. They'll either never believe him or never understand.

The kitchen is silent after his brother disappears and Daniel finishes filling the cupcake cases before placing them into the oven. Behind him Isaac and Jonah begin to gather up the leftover ingredients and wipe down surfaces and still not one of them says a word.

Daniel wants to say something to diffuse the tension but it's impossible. His throat feels as if it has suddenly constricted and he is afraid that if he tries to talk all that he is going to do is cry. Daniel has heard his brother's speech a thousand times before and he's pretty sure it hurts him more as time progresses. And there's something about Jonah hearing him say all that.

It's one thing for Daniel to consider that they might be true but Daniel can't even bear to consider Jonah doing the same.

"Where does this go?" Jonah's simple question breaks the silence and Daniel is forced to look up.

Jonah is holding a newly cleaned whisk aloft, a confused expression on his face.

"Top drawer on your left," Daniel replies gesturing towards the drawer in question, "it goes with all the other random utensils."

Jonah simply nods before turning back to his work. Daniel does the same, beginning to load the dishwasher up with anything that can go in. He tries to distract his mind, tries to immerse himself in the task but he can't stop himself from watching Jonah out of the corner of his eye, trying to watch out for the point when Jonah decides that Daniel just isn't worth it anymore, Daniel is sure that it can't be long.

When the kitchen finally looks in a reasonable state that Daniel is sure even his brother can't find fault with Daniel lets out a sigh of relief, and turns to the new issue of his own body. He's still covered in batter, egg and flour, and he doesn't intend on staying this way forever. He imagines that Jonah and Isaac feel a similar way.

"Shower?" He asks.

He almost expects the pair to say that they'll just go home; it would make sense to do that after all. But then he catches the sympathy in their gazes and realises that they're almost afraid to leave him alone. Daniel can't decide if he's thankful or annoyed about that.

"Shotgun going first," Jonah shouts.

"Shotgun going second."

"This is my house," Daniel mutters.

"Exactly," Isaac replies, "we're the guests, therefore we should go first."

Daniel just shakes his head; he can't be bothered to be argue about this, it's not like half an hour more like this is going to make a difference.

xxx

Jonah sits on Daniel's bed and waits for Isaac to get out of the shower. Daniel has disappeared off somewhere, with a vague excuse of needing to tidy the kitchen further (the kitchen is spotless, Jonah is just pretty sure that Daniel is just trying to avoid being alone with him).

And so Jonah waits for Isaac to get out of the shower because he has so many questions bubbling in his mind. Jonah doesn't really want to pry, to be perfectly honest he doesn't like to, but he can't not ask about Daniel's brother. It seems almost impossible.

Eventually the door is pushed open and Isaac emerges from the corridor, a shirt of Daniel's shrinking his body and his trousers back on once again. They seem to be the only piece of Isaac's clothing that emerged from the 'fight' unscathed, Jonah considers him lucky, every single piece of Jonah's outfit was covered in some way. Which is why he's sat on Daniel's bed in a pair of Daniel's jeans and an All Time Low t-shirt, trying desperately not to suddenly burst out with everything on his mind, he can't imagine that either Daniel or Isaac would be very thrilled with him if he did.

"Damn I feel better now," Isaac mutters, rubbing his hair with a towel in an attempt to dry it.

Jonah hears light footfall on the stairs and Daniel pokes his head around the door a few moments later.

"Is the shower free?"

"Yeah."

Daniel says nothing else, just heads towards the bathroom. Jonah notices that he treads carefully, desperate to make as little noise as possible.

"Isaac?"

"Yeah?"

"Doesn't matter."

Jonah's brief shot of determination has disappeared as quickly as it arrived. He doesn't want Isaac to think that he's just being nosey, that he's just here for the drama.

"Are you going to ask me about Marcus?"

Jonah presumes that Marcus is the brother. Jonah shakes his head, was he that obvious?

"No," he stammers.

Isaac looks at him with a small smile on his face; Jonah isn't