Chapter Six

Chris looked down at the tiny folded piece of paper that was trying to be handed to him. He looked up to the girl whose arm was stretched out. He took a few seconds and blinked at her with slight contempt, though really he was stalling so he could remember her name. He failed, but he felt that he should still speak to her.

“You can talk to me, you know,” he said. “It's not like class has started yet.”

The girl dejectedly pulled her hand back. “Fine,” she sighed. “Are you going to the dance on Friday?”

“There's a dance?” he uninterestedly asked.

“Yes, and I think you should go. And, you know, maybe we could go together.” She smiled at him and bat her eyelashes a few times. Chris narrowed his eyes at her.

“No,” he slowly replied. When he didn't continue, the girl took great offense.

“No? That's it?” she shrieked. “Just no?”

“You... You do realize that I'm gay, right?” Chris asked her. “It's nothing personal, I'm sure you're a nice girl.”

“You are?” She laughed a bit to cover up her mistake and said, “Well, I mean, I'd heard people say things... but I thought those were just rumors.” Chris shook his head, and the girl sighed and sat back in her seat. “Isn't that a bit unfair?”

“What?”

“Well, there are plenty of girls in the world, right? Plenty of girls to like boys.” She sat forward once more, enthusiastically trying to make her point to Chris. “If boys like boys, then who's gonna like all those girls?”

Chris was, at first, unsure of what to say in response. He stared at her questioningly for a while until he finally thought of something. “There are enough boys who do like girls. I don't think you have anything to worry about.”

The girl thought about it, her eyebrows burrowed in deep concentration. “Well, I still don't think it's fair.”

“Life's not fair,” Chris said. “Does that make you feel better?”

“No-” the girl began, disappointed, before she was cut off by the class beginning. All throughout the rest of the period, Chris thought he saw her shooting nasty and annoyed looks in his direction, but he just ignored it. And when the class ended and the students were terrifically glad to know their school day was over, Chris walked behind her and was nearly hit with the door on his way out.

He walked through the hallways like he always did, drifting along and thinking about other things until he finally reached his locker. He heard the people talking around him, but like always he tuned it out until the noise was just a dull roar.

As he stood in front of his locker, backpack in one hand and books in the other, he felt something collide with his shoulder. His arm jerked forward and his books were sent tumbling to the ground, where they scattered themselves across the floor. He dropped his backpack, bent down and apathetically gathered the fallen items.

Just after he stuffed his books in his bag, his hand reached out for his sacred dark purple folder, but someone else grabbed it before he did. Chris looked up to see Jonathan towering over him, examining the outside of the folder in his hands. Chris stood up and tried to gently pry it away.

“Drop your stuff?” Jonathan asked.

“Yeah, I guess I shouldn't try to hold more than I physically can,” Chris quickly brushed it off. He tried again to get his folder, this time with more urgency. “Can I have that back? Please?”

Jonathan narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but ultimately handed the folder to Chris then leaned against the wall. He lightly sighed. “Angelica is seeing someone else now... apparently,” he mentioned.

Chris looked up as he swung his arms through the straps on his backpack. “I'm sorry,” he sincerely said, and reached a hand out and placed it kindly on Jonathan's shoulder.

“Thanks man.” Then Jonathan did something strange- at least, Chris thought so. For some reason, he moved his hand over Chris's and kept it there for about two seconds, though it felt like an eternity to Chris.

“Yeah,” Chris replied, ignoring the sudden sickness he felt. “Now let's get going. To the buses, away!” he cheered with fake enthusiasm.

Jonathan began to walk first, and as Chris followed he rolled his eyes and exhaled in agony. Once they had reached the outside, Chris shuffled over so he was walking beside Jonathan.

“So, Jay, how was the rest of your day?”

“It was all right,” Jonathan shrugged in reply. “Pretty much the same as always. Yours?”

“Same. Oh, but something did happen in Chemistry!” Chris chirped. He stopped talking, though, as they reached the bus. Jonathan allowed Chris to go in front of him, and Chris quickly clamored up the steps. He was scanning the bus for empty seats, walking towards the back, when suddenly Jonathan saw him begin to fall. Luckily, Chris caught himself by grabbing a hold of one of the seats and correcting his balance. He quickly continued on, collapsing down in a nearby seat and waiting for Jonathan.

Jonathan slowly walked back to where Chris was, and he noticed two boys laughing to themselves, the one boy's foot hanging out into the aisle just a little bit. As he sat down, he watched them with a look of utter disgust and confusion, and he turned to find Chris smiling at him, acting like nothing happened.

“Chris-”

“Oh, I know, I'm so clumsy,” Chris airily laughed.

“You...” Jonathan was at a total loss for words.

“I... should watch where I'm going? Yeah, I know, and I should learn to tie my shoes better, too.” Chris lifted his legs back some, sliding his feet underneath the seat to hide his perfectly tied laces. “It's all good. So anyway, like I was saying before- Chemistry.”

“What happened in Chemistry?” Jonathan asked, though his mind was still on the preceding events.

“That girl you thought likes me,” Chris began, motioning with his hand, “I can't remember her name, but she asked me to the dance. So I guess you were right.”

“Oh. Well, that's good,” Jonny unenthusiastically replied. “Did she... not know... or whatever?”

“She knew, but she didn't think it was true.” Chris lowered his eyes thoughtfully and stared off into space. “I don't think she likes me much anymore.”

“Good,” Jonathan almost immediately said, with much more interest than before. Chris noticed, of course, and so Jonathan tried to hide it. “I mean, maybe she'll leave you alone now. Girls can be annoying sometimes.”

Chris nodded along. “Boys are much better. Except they don't like to admit that.”

“I don't think they're that much better,” Jonathan laughed. “They can be total assholes, which is probably way worse than being annoying.”

“Some of them are very sweet,” Chris bashfully replied. “But you're right, others are just... jerks.”

“Which one am I?”

Chris glanced up and made a quick decision. “You, Jay,” he slowly began, “are the biggest jerk I know.”

Jonathan stared at him for a few seconds, then pumped his fist in the air. “Yes! Life mission accomplished.”

“You deserve some sort of award.” Chris spread his hands out in front of him on some sort of imaginary banner. “Jonathan- he puts the 'Jay' in 'jerk'. Wonderful.”

Jonathan just watched Chris and laughed as the bus rolled to a stop outside their house. As he had taken the aisle seat, Jonathan stood up and walked off the bus first, but Chris ran past him and into the house once they were on the ground. Jonathan laughed again; he was always amused by Chris's crazy antics.

When he walked through the hallway to the stairs, he passed by the kitchen doorway and noticed that Chris had sat himself down at the table. Jonathan decided his room could wait, and he joined Chris.

“Having fun?” Chris quickly shot his head up, revealing a glass of water sitting in front of him.

“Having water, Jonathan. You can't drink fun.” Chris scanned his eyes over the air momentarily, then shrugged. “Or you could try to, but I think that would look very awkward.”

Chris took a sip of his water as Jonathan sat down. “I'm sure you could do it,” Jonathan said, “you pull off awkward very well.”

Chris held his head high and grinned. “Well, thank you.” He began to drum his fingers on the surface of the table for a bit before springing to his feet. “I'll be right back, I have to pee really bad now. I think it's that water, maybe there's too much fun in it...” He stopped for a moment, rethinking what he has just said, then decided it wasn't worth thinking about twice. Instead, he just left.

Jonathan saw Chris's backpack just laying on the table, almost asking to be searched. He wasn't sure why he had the desire to do it, he just did. Something about Chris's behavior as of late had him feeling that maybe not everything was as perfect as Chris made it out to be. He was just concerned, that's all.

What he really wanted to know more about was the dark purple folder, anyway. Chris had seemed to protect it so dearly that it must have contained some top secret information. Jonathan felt a twinge of guilt as he grabbed the folder, but he kept telling himself that it was for Chris's own good.

He let it rest before him for a few moments before opening it, mostly to prepare himself. He didn't know what to expect, really, so he tried to not expect anything.

The folder opened with ease, as most folders usually do, and the left side gently fell to the table. Jonathan looked at the papers inside, trying to decipher the messy handwriting.

It was a story of some sort, and from what Jonathan gathered it was written by Chris. He knew he didn't have time to read all of it, but he read the first page, then just flipped through and counted the rest. There were around a hundred pages, Jonathan estimated, and he stared at it in awe. He was so captivated by it, in fact, that he forgot to make sure he put the folder back before Chris returned.

“What are you doing?”

Jonathan froze, his heart racing. He snapped the folder shut and pushed it aside.

“Nothing,” he brightly said, clasping his hands in front of him. “What- what are you doing?”

“You went through my stuff,” Chris said. He was breathing heavily, nearly hyperventilating, and that Jonathan felt the twinge again. “Jay!”

“Yeah,” Jonathan admitted, really ashamed. “I'm sorry.”

“What did you see?” Chris quietly asked, rushing over to his backpack.

“Your story... Chris, why would hide that?”

“Because I...” he strongly began, but lost his explanation along the way. He waved his hands around to find it, but he failed in the end. “I don't know.”

“So, you wrote a story,” Jonathan said. “Who cares?”

“I wrote more than one,” Chris said in a hushed voice.

“You did?”

Chris ducked his head and scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah, well, I like to write.”

“How come you never mentioned it before?” Jonathan asked, grabbing the folder again and reopening it. “Chris, from what I read, you're really good. You could be a writer or something, if you wanted.”

“Really, you think so?” Chris replied with big, dreamy eyes. He sat down beside Jonathan. “I... I guess I just never thought about it that way. I was always... I was always told to become a doctor, or lawyer, or whatever.”

“By who, your parents?” Chris looked up with a sadness that confirmed Jonathan's question. “Chris, this is going to sound really rude and insensitive, and I apologize in advance, but...” Jonathan bit his lip and took a deep breath to lessen the pain, even though he didn't really understand how that would work. “...your parents don't care about you. OK? If they did, you wouldn't be here right now, in this house.”

“I guess you're right,” Chris hoarsely replied. He looked down at his hands laying in his lap and he felt a weird jolt as Jonathan placed his hand on Chris's shoulder.

“If you don't want to be a doctor, or a lawyer, or on whatever ridiculous pedestal your parents tried to place you, then you don't have to be. Just be you, OK?”

Chris said nothing for a while, his mind clouded by thoughts of his parents, his future, and his present; Jonathan's hand still rested on his shoulder.

“Mum and I, we care about you now. And- well, I can't speak for her exactly, but all we want is for you to be happy. All I want is for you to be happy.” Jonathan tightened his grip a little, then let go and sat back in his chair. He looked at the folder again. “You wrote more than just this one?”

Chris slowly looked at Jonathan. “Wanna see 'em?”

“Sure.”

Chris stood up, reached across the table, and grabbed his backpack. He led Jonathan up the stairs and down the hall to his room. He threw his bag on the floor by the door and crawled over his bed to his nightstand.

The drawer was filled with a multitude of folders similar to the purple one, though differing in color. Chris tried to grab all of them at once, which he eventually did, and he set them down on the bed with a hefty grunt.

“There are... ten, I think,” he said as Jonathan sat down, staring in amazement. “Two of them I wrote over the summer.”

“Is this what you've been doing in here, then?” Jonathan asked, pointing to the stack of folders. “Writing?”

“Yeah. Writing and reading.” Chris followed Jonathan's gaze and glanced down at the folders. “You can look at them, read them, if you want. I... I can't say they're all that great, but... If you want.”

Chris pushed the stack towards Jonathan a little. Jonathan reached for one of the folders, logically taking the top one. As he read, Chris watched on, anxious and feeling very vulnerable. He tried to distract himself by examining various random things around his room, but nothing worked.

Jonathan flipped a page, and Chris's stomach flipped itself. It was awful, the waiting, and he felt like screaming and throwing something at the wall. But he knew that wouldn't make time go faster.

Jonathan must have sensed Chris's worry, because he stopped reading halfway through a page and said, “You're really talented, man. I mean, I'm no expert on literature or anything, but this is fantastic.”

Chris smiled, though in truth Jonathan's compliment only made him worry more. He fidgeted as Jonathan continued to read, and suddenly decided that his energy would work best channeled into writing. He snatched his folder out of his bag and took a pen from his drawer. Fervently, he scribbled things down, until he realized that he had written 3 pages worth of story and Jonathan was now looking at him, his attention having been diverted from reading.

“You... are amazing,” Jonathan said. “How can you write that fast?”

“I don't know,” Chris shrugged, “It just... kinda pours out of me, you know?” Chris looked over the papers and chuckled. “I doubt any of it's good.”

“I don't,” Jonathan said, then went back to reading. Chris went through what he had written, crossing things out, adding things in the margins. Then he wrote some more, and edited that. Jonathan sat quietly at his side the entire time, and quickly an hour had passed, then two. Penny came home sometime during the third, and was rather surprised to find the house seemingly empty and eerily quiet.

She was not worried as she walked through the house searching for the boys, merely curious as to where they were; she had a few ideas.

“What are you boys up to?” she casually asked from Chris's doorway.

“Reading-”

“Writing.”

“Oh.” Penny waited for a few moments, as if expecting further explanation. When she didn't receive any, she cleared her throat and spoke again. “Reading and writing what?”

Somehow she knew that the answer would be a vague, “Story,” from the both of them, but she asked it anyway. She nodded her head, accepting that she wasn't going to get much more detail than that, and began to leave.

“Penny?” She stopped, turned around and saw Chris looking up at her. “Would you like to read one of my stories?”

She didn't know what to say at first, but soon enough she agreed. Chris eagerly handed her a folder with much more confidence than he had with Jonathan. She stood and read, while Chris beamed at her.

“Jay said I could be a writer,” he said. “Right, Jay?”

Jonathan nodded, too wrapped up in the story to really answer Chris. But Chris was satisfied with that, and Penny seemed to be impressed.

“Well, I think he's right. This is very good.” Her eyes scanned the page. “How long have you been writing?”

“A few years,” Chris answered. “I never told anyone... I didn't think anyone would care. And I didn't think it would matter, anyway.”

The room went suddenly silent, Penny and Jonathan both consumed in his writing. Chris lost a tiny bit of his happiness, but it didn't matter much. Watching the two people who he realized actually cared about him, he began to feel like he was much closer to finally being a whole person, finally being exactly who he wanted to be.

Chapter Fifteen

Though his eyes were closed, Jonathan was already awake when he heard the creaking of his floor and felt a small weight being placed beside him. It was another few seconds before he heard a squeaky voice call out to him.

“Jaayyy... Jaaayyyyy...” He ignored the voice and kept his eyes shut tight. The voice just pressed on, and he even felt a hand pushing his arm. “Wakey-wakey! It's little Tyrone Bunimo here-”

“Bunimo?!” Jonathan opened his eyes and sat up, turning to face the disturbance. Ty was being held next to him by what appeared to be a set of floating hands, but soon Chris's head popped up from the edge of the bed.

“That's his middle name,” Chris said. “Did you not know that?”

Jonny stared at the two for a bit, then rolled his eyes. “Obviously. Bunimo??”

Chris, trying not to let his grip on Ty slip too much, carefully held up one of his hands in defense. “It was all Kirsten, I promise.”

“Is that even a name?” Jonathan asked, shaking his head and narrowing his eyes.

“Seems so.” Chris stood up and brought Ty with him, letting the baby rest in his arms. “Are you gonna get up or what? Penny said she's making breakfast now.”

“Yeah,” Jonathan droned, “I'll be down in a few minutes.”

Chris left the room, bouncing Ty a little as he walked. Jonathan thought he even heard Chris start to sing, his voice carrying through the hall. He smiled to himself and thought about getting up. Then he thought about it some more for quite a few minutes, until his legs finally decided to receive the signals from his brain and moved to the floor.

The carpet felt soft under his feet, and it took him another minute or so to coax himself into actually getting up this time. In all honesty what made him do it was the picture he had of Chris sitting downstairs, probably talking to Ty about things Ty really had no interest in whatsoever. He loved that side of Chris.

Sure enough, as he walked into the kitchen the first thing he saw was Ty in his high chair, Chris leaned in close and muttering a bunch of things to him. Jonathan sat down in the seat opposite Chris and just stared for a while.

“And Jonathan is what we call 'eavesdropping',” Chris said. “It's a big word, I know, but you'll get it one day. It means that Jay is listening to our conversation even though he's not a part of it, and also even though it's not much of a conversation. 'Conversation' is another rather large word, huh? But it's basically just us talking.”

“Or Chris is attempting to have a conversation with you, but it's not working out because you can't talk back,” Jonathan said to Ty. “Though that works well for him, because now he doesn't have anyone telling him to shut up.”

“Except you.” Chris smiled brightly and condescendingly, and Jonathan narrowed his eyes at him. Then, from somewhere on the table Jonathan managed to find a few crumbs of whatever had been for dinner the night before that he picked up and threw at Chris. “Jonathan!!”

“Christopher!!” Jonathan whined back in his best mocking tone. Chris tried to pull off his best angry face, but he couldn't hold it for very long and he ended up laughing. Jonathan smiled back at him, and Chris rested his chin in his hands and stared at Jonathan.

“You have such a nice smile, Jay,” he said. “And a nice laugh, and nice eyes, and-”

“Chris, you could go on all day,” Penny said as she walked over to the table carrying two full plates. “Move your arms, please, so I can set these down.”

Chris looked up at Penny, then did as he was told and pulled his arms back. Penny placed a plate in front of each of the boys, then headed back to the stove to fix her own breakfast.

“Thanks mum,” Jonathan said as she was walking away, and in return he received a noncommittal grunt. He went to grab his fork, and along the way he noticed Chris already shoveling his food down his throat. “Careful, you might choke.”

“And then you'd have to give me CPR,” Chris said with his mouth full of eggs. He finished chewing, swallowed, then continued sarcastically, “What a shame.”

Jonathan looked at him blankly for a few seconds, then shook his head slightly. “I don't know CPR.”

“It's not that hard to learn. You want me to teach you later?”

“Chris!” Penny yelled across the room. Chris spun around in his chair and smiled innocently at her. “Don't say those things around your son. Or better yet, around me.”

“Sorry,” he sheepishly replied, then turned back to Jonathan. “I guess that's out, then.”

“It's OK, I'd rather not ever need to use CPR. Even on you.” Jonathan appeared to drift off for a moment, then he added, “Especially on you. What if it didn't work?”

Chris's eyes bugged and he nearly dropped his fork on his plate. “Oh... well, that would be awful.”

“Exactly,” Jonathan said. He decided not to add anything more to the topic, and so he went back to eating. Within a minute Penny sat beside him, and by that time Chris had finished eating and was in the middle of bringing his plate to the sink. After the clink of the plate as it the bottom of the sink sounded, Chris opened up the refrigerator and pulled out a jar of baby food.

“What do you say, Ty, banana?” He looked up at his son, who was staring back at him. Jonathan glanced up at them as well, once again smiling to himself at Chris's quirky behavior. “Good.”

Once all four of them had been fed well enough, they moved their location to the living room. Penny decided to watch some documentary on the National Geographic channel, and Jonathan and Chris sat on either end of the couch. In the middle of them was Ty, being held up by Chris, his feet just barely touching the cushion.

“Wow, Ty, you're so tall,” Chris told him. “You're basically a giant.”

“He does have your genes, Chris, you never know,” Jonathan said. “He could end up being a giant.”

“Giant Ty... it's almost like saying giant eye...”

“Well, he could end up with those, too.” Chris leaned forward a little and widened his eyes a frightening amount, and in response Ty laughed. Jonathan shook his head, and turned to see what was on the television set now. Penny was still watching the National Geographic channel, and at that particular moment they were showing a rather horrifying depiction of a possible ending to the world.

Jonathan's interest decreased and he looked back at Chris and Ty. Ty was no longer standing with help from Chris, but he was sitting with his back slightly against the couch. Chris's hands were on either side of his body, there so if he fell Chris could catch him. For a few seconds Ty sat forward, but as he started to wobble Chris helped him sit back again.

“Not bad, kiddo,” Chris said, smiling proudly. It was one of those moments where he was utterly amazed by everything and anything Ty did, even something as simple as blinking. “Wanna try again?”

Chris pulled Ty forward a little, and then let go, but still kept his hands close. Ty managed to sit for a little longer than before, and even Jonathan smiled at that. Having been an only child, and the youngest of three, neither Jonathan nor Chris had ever really been around a baby before, and thus they were both excited seeing Ty progress in ways such as this, though it certainly meant a lot more to Chris.

“Aw, Ty, Penny was right,” Chris said, picking Ty up and sitting him back down in his lap, “you're gonna grow up too fast. Stop growing up. Do you want to stay tiny forever?”

Ty blinked at Chris, unaware, and Chris sighed. “No, you're right, that wouldn't be much fun. And you have too much wisdom in those big, blue eyes to stay like this. You need to grow up so you can spread your knowledge around to those less fortunate. Like Devon.”

Chris was rather surprised to see that Ty laughed at this, and once again he felt proud of his son.

There was not much to do in the quiet house, yet the day still passed by in a flash. Chris was really sad to have to bring Ty back to Kirsten's, and as he walked back home he realized that it was a pain he would have to deal with for the rest of his life, at least until Ty was an adult himself and off on his own. But Kirsten's seeming eagerness to allow Chris to spend as much time with Ty as possible was certainly an uplifting prospect.

When Chris returned home, Jonathan was waiting for him on the porch, sitting in one of the three green plastic chairs that occupied the space. Chris, due to the fact that he had been staring at his feet, didn't notice until he had reached the first step and finally looked up. He stopped on the stair and leaned against the railing.

“Hey,” Chris softly said.

“Hey.” Jonathan smiled at Chris, though for some reason Chris thought he looked a little sad. He took a seat in the chair beside Jonathan.

“What are you doing out here?”

“I just felt like coming out here,” Jonathan replied. He was looking down at the chair, tapping his thumb restlessly on the arm. “You know, we only bought three of these chairs because no one else ever came over, really. It was just me, my mum, and my dad...”

Chris scooted his chair closer to Jonathan's and he grabbed Jonathan's hand. “Oh, Jay...”

Jonathan looked up at Chris and tried to smile reassuringly. “It's OK. I mean... I hated him. And if he were still alive, then you certainly wouldn't be here with us, and we wouldn't be together.”

“Yeah, but still, I know what it's like to not have your parents around. It's tough, if not only because you're just used to them being there, then one day that changes and nothing is ever the same, even if it's for the better.” Chris's eyes were shining, and as he gave a small sigh he laid his head on Jonathan's shoulder. Moments later he felt Jonathan's chin rest on top of his head, and even though the sun was setting and the air around them was cooling very quickly, Chris felt a warm sensation tingling through his body.

“Chris,” Jonathan quietly began after a long silence, “I'll always love you.”

“And I you, dear Jay,” Chris replied. “I don't think I could love anyone else as much as I love you.” Chris lifted his head, pointing his blue eyes and Jonathan's green ones and trying to convey through them as much of his emotion and he could. “Even when we're not together anymore, I'll be there for you. If you ever need a friend... or someone to listen...”

For a reason he could not explain, Chris felt the tears start to fall down his cheeks. He tried to stop them, but it didn't work. Then Jonathan brushed his hand against Chris's skin and tried to wipe them away. Chris smiled at him, laughing through his embarrassment. Jonathan leaned forward gently kissed Chris, not caring that Chris's lips tasted a little salty from the tears that had slid down so far, only worrying about making Chris feel better.

And Chris knew Jonathan would always be there to lift his heavy heart.

Chapter Fourteen

Chris felt the anger rising in his chest, but he decided not to do anything about it just yet, at least not with Ty so near. As a baby, he shouldn't have to be subjected to such sorts of negativity, especially not when it involved both of his parents having a shouting match.

Chris turned to Jonathan and tried to smile. It was weak and obviously fake, but Jonathan didn't pay it much attention. “Jay, could you take Ty back to the house for me?”

Jonathan nodded and carefully took Ty from Chris. Making sure he had a good hold on the baby, Jonathan walked away, only glancing back once to give Chris a reassuring smile.

Kirsten stared at her feet, her hood sliding back a little as her head was pulled forward. She could sense that Chris was angry, and she understood that. He had a right to be, even though she felt that if she could explain he might feel differently. But she wanted him to speak first.

“Kirsten, how the hell could you do that?” Chris eventually asked. His voice shook like he was trying to keep calm, but having immense difficulty doing so. “How could you just run away?”

Kirsten felt Chris's bright blue eyes trying to pierce through her skull and penetrate her mind, trying to find some meaning in all of this. Kirsten kept her head down.

“Did you even bother to think about Ty? Or is that why you-”

“Oh, what, you couldn't handle taking care of Ty for an entire day? Is he too much for you?” She hadn't meant to say it, and she instantly regretted lashing out when she looked up and saw the expression on Chris's face, his mouth slightly open in shock.

“I didn't say that,” he said, raising his voice a bit. “I just meant that if you had never come back, Ty would have grown up without his mother.” Then he quieted down and added, “I would love to take care of Ty more often.”

Kirsten frowned at him, hoping that he would realize she was sorry for snapping at him. “I know you would. I only did this for Ty, anyway.”

“What do you mean? What does Ty get out of not having his mum around?”

“It's just that Ty's almost always with me, and so he doesn't really know you well, does he? But at home, Devon's constantly telling him that you're awful and a bunch of other stupid stuff. I can't really stop him, especially if he says those things to him while I'm still in school. So, I figured...” Kirsten shrugged and looked off into the distance. “If I ran away, then you would have to take care of him, and he would know what a great person you are. He would be able to see that what Devon tells him isn't true. And then you have Jonny, and he'd only say good things about you, too.”

Chris stared blankly at Kirsten for a while, then shook his head. “Why couldn't you just tell someone you felt that way instead of actually leaving? Or ask me to watch Ty more, I wouldn't mind.”

“I don't know, Chris, because I'm fourteen? I don't know how to handle this stuff.”

“Maybe you should have thought about that fourteen months ago,” Chris quietly told her. Then, as if he regretted saying it, he added, “Though I guess you couldn't have known about Devon, and... whatever. You're here now, and that's all that matters. Actually I think you should go see your parents, because they are so worried about you.” Kirsten silently nodded, and Chris sighed deeply. “Kirsten?”

“Yeah?”

Chris ducked his head and in a low voice asked, “Is it all right if I watch Ty for the rest of the weekend?”

Kirsten smiled at him. “I think that would be good.”

“I'll see you tomorrow, then,” he said with a hint of excitement. He then left Kirsten, assuming that she could be trusted to return to her home while he returned to his.

Almost instantly upon Chris's arrival and the sound of the door closing, a frazzled-looking Jonathan appeared in the narrow hall separating the living room from the kitchen. In his arms was Ty, head laying against Jonathan's shoulder and eyes shut tight.

“He fell asleep,” Jonathan expressed with wide eyes. “When we got back I didn't feel like sitting down, so I walked around the house a bit, and he fell asleep while I was holding him, but then I didn't want to sit down or put him down or anything because I was afraid that he'd wake up and start crying and I had no idea when you'd be back and I wasn't sure that I could get him to stop crying if he did and he is so heavy when he's asleep!”

Chris stared at Jonathan for a few moments, trying to comprehend all of the words being thrust in his direction. He took a breath, a step forward, and said, “OK, I'll take him.”

Carefully he slipped his hands underneath Ty's arms and pulled him from Jonathan, hoisting the tiny baby over his own shoulder. Ty woke and, as Jonathan had predicted, made some noise, but, realizing that he was now being held by his father, he fell quiet again shortly thereafter.

“So, what happened?” Jonathan asked, rubbing the shoulder where Ty had just been resting.

“Come on, let's go sit down,” Chris said, nodding to the living room. They walked in and sat on the sofa as Chris had suggested, Ty already asleep once more by the time Chris began to explain. He took a few minutes to tell Jonathan everything, and when he had finished his last sentence, Penny joined their company.

“They found Kirsten-” she began, but was cut off by both boys.

“We know,” they simultaneously said, then Chris turned to Jonathan and smiled.

“Well, that must make you two the brightest and most special boys around, huh?” Penny sarcastically asked as she took a seat in one of the arm chairs in the room. “I see Ty is completely unaffected by all of this.”

Chris looked down at his son, the tiny black curls falling around his eyes, a most peaceful expression drawn on his small face.

“That's good,” Penny continued. “It's better that he's too young to understand when things like this happen.”

Chris shook his head a little, and he lightly brushed Ty's hair out of his face. “I think he understands a lot more than anyone thinks. Maybe more than anyone else understands.”

Penny did not argue with Chris; she too knew what it was like to be a parent of such a small, promising child. Not that Jonathan was a failure in any way, but she had believed when he was a baby that he would be impossibly more than he had turned out to be. Her son was fine the way he was, and she had learned to accept that her dreams were nothing more than that- just dreams, and outlandish ones at that.

The sparkle in Chris's eye as he looked down at his son, possibly imagining Ty as the world's next super-genius, continued to shine as he glanced up at Jonathan. In that moment Chris was overcome with a sense of serenity, like everything in his life was finally going right. He was spending time with his wonderful, albeit currently unconscious, son, whose mother only intended for them to get to know each other better, and sitting beside him was the loveliest boy he could have ever hoped to meet, let alone date.

And it was in that moment that the one thing that had weighed Chris down most over the past year suddenly disappeared, and he no longer cared about the loss of his parents' approval. What he had now was enough for him.

“Jay,” Chris suddenly said, “you're looking very gorgeous today.”

Jonathan blushed a little, which only made Chris smile and admire him even more. His green eyes wandered around the room for a while, then when he looked back to find Chris still staring at him, his cheeks flushed an even deeper red. “That was kinda random, but thanks.” He glanced furtively at his mother, then leaned forward and said in the lowest voice he could muster, “You look really... gorgeous, too.”

Chris gave a small laugh, and if it hadn't been for the baby in the way, he would have kissed Jonathan. Instead, he winked and saw Jonathan bite his lip as the corners of his mouth twitched upwards. And what Chris would have given then to be back in the safety of his dreams, or perhaps of Jonathan's; he had never actually heard any of the details of Jonathan's provocative dream, though he was willing to bet that it was good.

“Of course, I think you look gorgeous everyday.”

Jonny exhaled frantically and shook his head, as if those movements would remove the red that was only burning hotter on his face. He lowered his head, and Chris knew that Jonathan's embarrassment was a sign of his gratitude, and that it was most likely caused by the presence of his mother. When Chris looked over to Penny, though, he noticed that she seemed to be experiencing the same sort of drowsiness that had plagued Ty, for her eyes were closed and her head was rested upon her hand, dangerously close to slipping as her breathing evened out.

So Jonathan and Chris were alone, yet not, all at once. They could at least say whatever they wanted, though neither would for fear that one of the room's other occupants would overhear and cause a fuss. Penny was obviously more likely to do so than Ty, but either way it was a risk neither boy was willing to take.

Chris rested against the back of the sofa and just watched Jonathan breathe and generally live. It was always an amazing concept to Chris that every person had a heart of their own that beat and kept them in this world, but he thought it was even more astounding in Jonathan's case, simply because he was Jonathan, and Chris loved him.

An hour or two passed this way, and sometimes Chris would stop looking at Jonathan and Jonathan would take over, staring at Chris and marveling at his existence. Then there were times when they both looked at each other, and Jonathan sat nearer to Chris, but he couldn't grab Chris's hand or lay his arm around Chris's shoulder, so he settled for edging his foot closer to Chris's.

When Jonathan set his eyes upon Chris, he felt like he had so much to say, but he needn't actually say any of it. There was some sort of telepathy between the two boys that required nothing to be spoken, even over the span of a few hours. Everything was just thought and felt by both.

Eventually the tiredness slipped into their bodies as well, and Chris found his eyes closing on the image of Jonathan curled up against the armrest of the sofa, already gone into the world of dreams.

Then the next thing he knew it was dark in the room except for a lamp illuminated by Penny's seat, Penny leaned towards it with a book in her hands, and he looked down to find that Ty was awake as well. Ty's bright blue eyes were directed at Chris's, his tiny hand trying to grab at Chris's collar.

“Well,” Chris drowsily began, still trying to blink away the tiredness in his eyes, “there goes my Saturday, huh?”

Chris readjusted his position so that Ty was sitting, facing him, on his lap. Ty laughed at him, and made some incoherent noises.

“It's just as well, I don't think I'd have done anything more important anyway.” Beside him, Jonathan twitched, his leg hitting Chris unintentionally, but with a decent amount of force nonetheless. “Oi, do you see this?” Chris asked Ty. “Domestic abuse, I think.”

It was probably the ridiculous tone of Chris's voice that made Ty laugh a little more. Chris snapped his head and shot a look at the baby. “Oh, I'm glad you find my injuries amusing. I suppose it's best to find out now just what kind of son I have.”

Ty, oblivious, continued smiling. Chris laughed back at him, and gently kissed the top of his head. Then he turned to Jonathan, who appeared to be still curled up and sleeping as if nothing had ever happened. But Chris thought he looked really cute; he realized then that before this day he had only ever seen Jonathan conscious. It was almost like a new milestone for him.

“Aw, Ty, look at Jay sleeping,” Chris whispered. “How adorable is he?”

“Gaa,” Ty replied. It may have not actually meant anything, but Chris seemed to understand what Ty was saying.

“Yeah,” Chris agreed, his tone riddled with admiration, “he is.” Chris smiled, and at that particular moment Jonathan's eyelids fluttered and he looked around to identify where he was. He quickly realized, and as he turned his head he saw that Chris was watching him.

“That's kinda creepy, you know.” Jonathan sat himself up, stretching as much as he could given the limitations of the sofa.

“Oh, you wanna see creepy?” Chris asked, widening his eyes and leaning as close as he could to Jonathan. Then he smiled without parting his lips, and Jonathan tried to move back some.

“OK, you can stop doing that,” Jonathan told him, but Chris was not going to let that stop him. He just kept moving further and further until he had Jonathan squished up against the arm of the couch. For a few seconds he stayed perfectly still, smiling, then he moved forward one last time and kissed Jonathan square on the mouth. Then he laughed and sat back, allowing Jonathan to reposition himself as well.

“You two have to be the weirdest kids around here,” Penny said from across the room without looking up from her book. “Seriously.”

Chris thought this over for a while, his eyes wandering ponderously up to the ceiling. They were a little odd, he had to admit, though it was probably he who was the stranger of the two and usually the source of their interesting ventures.

Then suddenly Chris stood up, holding firmly onto Ty, and began to walk out of the room without so much as one word.

“Wait,” Jonathan called, “where are you going?”

“My room,” Chris replied, not looking back or stopping. As he rounded the corner and headed for the stairs, his voice carried into the room, “I have this urge to write now, and I feel that I should not ignore it.”

Jonathan sat around for a bit longer, twiddling his thumbs, then decided to join Chris. When he entered the room at the end of the hall, he found Chris sitting on his bed, Ty next to him leaning back against some pillows to help him sit up. Chris was already fervently scribbling words on a paper, but as soon as he sensed Jonathan's presence he stopped and looked up.

“Hey, Jay,” he said, and then went back to writing. Jonathan admired Chris from the doorway for a few seconds, then walked over to the edge of the bed and took a seat.

“What are you writing?” he asked.

“Something new,” Chris said. Jonathan took that to mean that Chris had only just started the story that very same day, but Jonathan noticed that there were at least three pages laying beside Chris that were filled entirely. “Wanna read what I have so far?”

“Sure.” Chris gave Jonathan the few pages and Jonathan began to read. It was, in Jonathan's opinion, much like the rest of Chris's stories- not in plot, though, but in the fantastic quality of writing. Something like pride always swelled inside of him whenever he read anything Chris wrote. It was almost as if he knew that one day Chris would make it big with his writing, and Jonathan would be extraordinarily grateful to be able to say that he was there in the days when Chris would stow away in his room and write for hours without telling anyone what he was doing.

Jonathan sat in Chris's room and read until he finally decided that he should go to bed, even though he'd taken a rather long nap earlier. He said goodnight to Chris and Ty and went off into his room. As he looked at his unmade bed, he remembered the dream he'd had the night before, and almost hoped that he didn't have another dream like that. Not that the dream hadn't been enjoyable, he just felt too uncomfortable with it during his waking hours.

But as he tried to fall asleep, he found it difficult to think of anything else except that dream, and the way it felt to be so close to Chris in a way he never had been before. Then, thinking back to what Chris had said about them not always being together, he wondered if they would ever even get to that point, if their relationship would even survive long enough for it to happen. Jonathan decided that it would.

The last thing he pictured before he finally drifted off was what his life would be like in the future; he knew Chris was right, but he couldn't help thinking what it would be like for them to stay together even when they did hit thirty, and maybe even after that. Chris was such a great person- what if the family Chris mentioned Jonathan would want was theirs? What if they ended up married in some way? Jonathan wouldn't mind that.

Chapter Thirteen

“Still no sign of her,” Jonathan said as he entered the room. Chris was sitting on the couch with Ty, worrying like crazy. Ty obliviously stared at Jonathan. “Mitch just called, said they've been looking all day. And they searched her room for any sorts of clues or whatever, but they haven't found anything.”

“I can't believe she would just leave like that,” Chris said, shaking his head. Jonathan sat down beside him. “Why would she leave?”

“Maybe she just...” Jonathan sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “I don't know.”

“At least she didn't take Ty with her, the stupid-” Chris began, his voice teeming with anger, but he stopped himself when Ty started to whine. “No, no, Ty,” he hushed, “don't cry. I'm sorry. Daddy's just a little stressed right now. But it's OK, we'll find mummy. You'll see her again soon enough.”

Chris pulled Ty a little closer to him, and Ty let his head fall against Chris's chest. Just watching them made Jonathan almost want to cry.

“She couldn't have gone far,” Jonathan offered as help. “She never really seemed like the type to go through with something like this anyway. Running away, I mean.”

Jonathan looked to the floor, and Chris stared across the room at the wall, absentmindedly patting down some of Ty's unruly curls. Then he turned to Jonathan and asked quietly, as if to make sure Ty didn't hear, “What if she doesn't come back?”

“Then she's the worst mother ever,” Jonathan simply replied. His eyes met Chris's and it was instantly as though he could read Chris's mind. “You would do fine raising him by yourself, if you really had to. I could always help, if you need it.”

Chris persistently shook his head as he stared down at Ty, and Jonathan was certain he saw a tear fall from Chris's cheek. “Ty's already going to have a rough life as it is. Teenaged parents who aren't together, one of whom is gay... that's bad enough. Then if he's down to just having a gay dad...” Chris sighed. “Sometimes I just wish I could go back in time and stop it from happening. I love Ty, but I just feel like I messed up his life.”

“Kirsten's just as responsible as you are. Besides, I thought you said Ty was a strong kid. He can take it.”

“If she doesn't turn up again, then she's more responsible for messing him up,” Chris said. Jonathan smiled at what he thought was Chris's attempt at feeling better about the situation, though he knew full well that Chris felt not one iota better about anything.

“He's not messed up, Chris, he's just a baby. He's not old enough to be messed up yet. And you can teach him to work with what he's got, so he won't ever be messed up.” Jonathan placed his hand under Chris's chin and lifted his head up. “If anyone's messed up around here, it's you, but you handle everything in ways that no one else could. If you can teach him to do that- or maybe he already knows, maybe it's genetic. But he'll be fine.”

As Chris stared with disbelieving eyes, Jonathan leaned forward and softly kissed him. “OK,” he whispered.

Jonathan let his hand fall and he sat back a bit as Penny strolled into the room. Wordlessly, she sat down in the chair opposite Jonathan and Chris and folded her hands in her lap. The four sat in silence for several minutes, the only exception being when Ty hiccuped a few times.

“What time is it?” Chris asked. Jonathan responded with a rough estimate, and Chris nodded a little. “I should feed Ty.”

He quickly lifted Ty and stood up. Ty rested against Chris's shoulder as Chris carried him into the kitchen.

Penny sighed deeply, then said, “I always knew there was something wrong with that family.”

“What?” Jonathan asked, looking up with slight bewilderment.

“Oh, they were always nice people, sure,” Penny said. “Hardly anyone around here as kind as they were. But there was just something off about them. Your father insisted that there was nothing wrong with any of them, and that I was just imagining things. Well, here we are well over a decade later and their children are two of the most mentally unstable...”

Penny's voice and thoughts trailed off, leaving Jonathan to feel like he should pick things up. “She'll come around, Kirsten will. I don't think she could actually leave and be gone forever.”

In the other room, Chris paused, his hand suspended in midair, holding a spoon up to Ty. He lowered his hand a little and quietly said, “Hear that? It's all going to be good. If Jay says it, then it has to be true.”

Then he heard Penny speak. “Well, at least it's gotten us away from that chat... Chris is really not discreet about much, is he?”

“No, he's not,” Jonathan agreed. Chris laughed to himself a little.

“Everyone talks about me when they think I can't hear, I said it before, didn't I? It's true, but at least they won't say anything bad,” he said to Ty, giving a small nod in the direction of the living room. “Penny and Jonathan are far too nice for that.”

“He's not like that with everyone, though, I don't think,” Jonathan continued. “It seems like he doesn't trust most other people. Not that I blame him.”

“I have to thank you, you know that?” Chris asked Ty as he brought the spoon towards Ty's mouth again. “You may not be able to do much yet, but you really helped me. If it wasn't for you, I'd probably still be silently pining for Jonathan.”

Ty smiled at Chris, and Chris had a moment where he realized once again that he was a father, that this tiny creature in front of him was essentially a part of him. It made him smile back and nearly tear up.

“I guess this is the plus side, huh? We get to spend more time together.” Chris lifted his hand and tapped Ty on the nose. Then he sat back and observed Ty, twisting his mouth pensively. “I just wish you could talk. Then it would be a lot more entertaining.”

“He'll talk soon enough.” Chris had hardly realized that Penny had walked in, so it was with a bit of shock that he looked up at the doorway. “Hell, before you know it he'll be a teenager, running around and chasing after girls- or,” she waved her hand carelessly through the air, “maybe boys.”

Chris smiled and looked back at Ty. “He won't cause much trouble. Will you, Ty?”

“Yeah, you can keep telling yourself that until you're-” Penny paused briefly to shoot a weird look at Jonathan, who had just entered the room so quickly that he nearly crashed into the side of the doorway- “until you're blue in the face, but that won't make it true. In a rush, are we, Jonathan?”

“I was lonely out there,” Jonathan innocently replied. He stared at his mother with youthful eyes for only a moment longer, then squeezed past her and sat himself down beside Chris. “Listen, I don't want to think about when Ty's that old.”

“You don't want to think about it?” Chris laughed incredulously. “How do you think I feel?”

“We're gonna be, like, thirty,” Jonathan said.

“Yeah, and you'll... probably have your own kids.” Chris turned away from Jonathan, trying not to frown. Jonathan leaned over to try to catch Chris's gaze once more.

“My own kids?” Chris's eyes met Jonathan's with a bit of disbelief.

“You can't honestly tell me that you're not going to get married and have kids one day.”

“Well... I don't know.” Jonathan shrugged his shoulders and looked down at the table. “I mean, I didn't realize you thought about stuff like that... I never really thought about us not...”

“Jonathan,” Chris droned as if it was the millionth time he had to say it, “I love you, but it's completely unrealistic to think that we'll always be together. It's tough to hear that, I know, but it's something that I came to terms with the last time you dumped me.”

Jonathan lifted his eyes to Chris and quietly said, “I did that to help you.”

“I know.” Chris smiled and took one of Jonathan's hands. “And I'm pretty much glad you did. It's just that somewhere down the road we're gonna realize we want different things, Jay. And that's life.”

“So... is there even a point in us being together?”

Chris's eyes went wide and he looked like he was about to smack himself in the forehead because of all the ridiculousness. “Of course there is! Jay, do the words 'I love you' mean nothing to you?”

“I thought they meant nothing to you.” Chris groaned and fell forward dramatically, resting his head on Jonathan's shoulder. Jonathan, temporarily forgetting that he was a bit peeved, smiled and even laughed a little. “You know... maybe there are things that are a tad bit more important right now that we should be focusing on. Even though I love you.”

“Oh, what, like my missing baby mama?” Chris asked, his voice muffled by the fabric of Jonathan's shirt. He lifted his head and sighed, continuing on much more clearly. “I guess her whereabouts are a bit more pressing at the moment.” Chris dully rolled his eyes, and Jonathan laughed at him. Chris pecked him on the cheek, then turned to Ty. “Ty, maybe we should go for a walk. You know, we could keep an eye out on the way.”

Ty stared at Chris, blissfully unaware of anything Chris had just said. But Chris just pretended that Ty was able to agree with him. “Wonderful!” He quickly turned, accidentally, but not roughly, hitting Jonathan's arm with his hand. “Jay, come with us.”

“Hmm...” Jonathan paused for a long time in an attempt to build suspense, and possibly to annoy Chris. Chris wasn't fazed much, though. “All right. I've got nothing better to do, anyway.”

Chris smiled and shook his head, but his grin faded as he looked around the room. “When did your mum leave??”

“Probably once we started talking about us being thirty. I don't think she's ready to deal with that thought.”

“Hey, you're the one who said it first-”

“And you're the one who said that thing about me having kids!” Jonathan retorted. Chris thought for a few moments, then nodded.

“Then we are both to blame. Either way, let's go for a walk now.” Chris stood up and stretched a bit, the tiny bit of skin his shirt revealed as it lifted a little doing nothing to help Jonathan's still scattered mind. To be productive, Jonathan stopped staring and quickly walked around Chris, grabbing Ty out of his high chair and bringing him into the other room. “Hey...”

Jonathan kept walking into the living room, where he was reunited with his mother. Not long after, Chris came running in, and he stopped a few inches away from Jonathan. “Oh, hey, Chris,” Jonathan coolly said.

“Excuse me, Jay, I would like my son back,” Chris said. Jonathan turned his eyes to Chris, tilting his head.

“Nah, he seems pretty happy with me.” Jonathan looked to Ty and continued, “Aren't you? Aren't you happy with me? Come on, Ty, if we're going on a walk, you're gonna need a jacket and stuff.”

Jonathan left the room again, headed in the direction of the stairs and, presumably, Chris's bedroom. Chris raised his arms in the air as if to remark on how unbelievable his life was at the moment, and Penny just shot him a helpless look in return.

“I swear I don't know where he gets it from,” she said. “But maybe you should make sure he doesn't drop him or anything.”

“Oh God!” Chris exclaimed, then bolted out the doorway.

Much to his delight, Ty was safely in tact when Chris stumbled into his room, panting and shaking a little. Jonathan quickly looked at him, then returned to searching through the bag on Chris's bed.

“His jacket's on my chair,” Chris said, pointing towards the desk in the corner of the room. Jonathan stopped digging and looked over.

“Oh.”

As Jonathan went to fetch the jacket, Chris took the opportunity to resume control over his son. While Jonathan was turned the other way, he quickly checked to make sure there were no sudden marks on Ty. He sighed with relief when he found nothing, though perhaps a little too loudly.

“Geez, Chris, don't have a heart attack or anything. I wasn't going to let anything happen to him.” Jonathan stood beside Chris, holding out Ty's jacket. Chris took the clothing from him, and having nothing else to use his hand for, Jonathan placed it carefully on Chris's lower back.

Chris lifted Ty- now sporting his thick navy blue jacket- and held him close, narrowing his eyes at Jonathan. “You're lucky nothing did happen.”

“Yeah, or what?”

“Or I would have to...” Chris abruptly paused, his eyes darting back and forth between Jonathan and Ty. He seemed to be silently asking for help from one of them, but he certainly didn't receive any. “I don't know!”

“See, and that is why you should not make threats like that,” Jonathan replied, and he grinned smugly. Chris narrowed his eyes again, then briefly leaned forward to brush his lips against Jonathan's.

“Come on, genius,” Chris quietly giggled, “let's go.”

“Was that supposed to be sarcasm?” Jonathan asked, staring wide-eyed with concern, but by this point Chris had already left the room, Ty resting in his arms. “I don't even get why you would say that... Chris!”

Only once the three were standing just in front of the porch outside did Jonathan get a chance to speak to Chris again, but he no longer cared about Chris's previous statement. He was more focused on the cold, though it was not as bone-chilling as it had been a few days prior. Chris seemed preoccupied with this, too; he was very closely examining Ty, trying to tell whether or not the tiny baby was well-heated.

“Do you think he looks warm enough?” Chris asked Jonathan, eyes still stuck on Ty. “Are you warm enough, Ty? Maybe I should have grabbed his hat, too...”

“He looks fine,” Jonathan answered, though he wasn't exactly being truthful. Chris believed him anyway, and they began to walk to the sidewalk.

“One of these days, Ty, you'll be able to walk by yourself. Well, I mean, I won't have to hold you. Isn't that cool?” Ty blinked at Chris, but Chris thought he saw a hint of a smile somewhere in his cute baby face.

“He seems thrilled,” Jonathan sarcastically replied. “I know I would be.”

“I think it's cool.”

“I would much rather have people carry me around all my life.” Chris looked to Jonathan and smiled, his blue eyes shining as the sunlight snuck through the shelter of trees and hit his face.

“I wouldn't expect you to understand, Jay,” he said. “You're just a simple, carefree teenage boy.”

“And you're better than that?”

“I'm not carefree, I have a child to look after.” Chris hoisted Ty up his side a little further, as he had been slipping some. “And I think it's cool that this little guy will be like us one day, walking around and talking nonstop.”

“I think that's more like you,” Jonathan joked.

“Well, sure,” Chris admitted, blushing a little for almost no reason. His fingers were started to feel a little stiff in the cold, so he flexed them. “He is my kid, after all.”

“That's so weird...”

Chris brought his eyes up to meet Jonathan's. Even without further explanation he knew what Jonathan was talking about. “It is, a bit.”

“Do you ever...” Jonathan began, but something made him change his mind and he trailed off mid-sentence. Instead, he watched the cracks in the sidewalk pass as his feet glided over the paved surface.

“What?”

Jonathan thought for a second longer, then shook his head. “Nothing. Never mind.”

“No, tell me. Please?” It took Jonathan a few seconds to see the face Chris was making, since his eyes were still so attached to the ground; for several moments longer than he should have been doing so, Chris stuck out his bottom lip and batted his eyelashes a thousand times in a row.

When Jonathan saw Chris, he shortly laughed. “All right. I was just wondering if you ever regret... that... night,” Jonathan replied, trying but failing to come up with better terminology to describe the even he was referring to. As vague as his words were, though, Chris understood what he meant.

“Well... I mean, really, I regretted it before it happened...” Chris looked a little sad, but he tried to brighten up as he added, “I don't regret having Ty. I'm actually really glad for him, even though it would have definitely been better for me to not be a father at sixteen.”

Suddenly Jonathan stopped right in the middle of the sidewalk, and after a few seconds Chris noticed, and he stopped, too. He didn't dare ask what Jonathan was doing, though it became clear quite quickly; Jonathan pulled off his right shoe and turned it upside down, seemingly trying to empty its contents onto the sidewalk. Chris saw a few tiny rocks fall out, and as he watched Jonathan put his shoe back on, he couldn't help laughing a little.

“What?” Jonathan innocently asked. “Those rocks were killing me.”

“I'm sure they were,” Chris said with a smile. “How'd you manage to get rocks in your shoes, exactly?”

Jonathan took the few steps that had distanced himself from Chris, then they both began to walk on. Jonathan shrugged and made an odd noise by pushing some air past his nearly closed lips. “Beats me.”

Chris was going to reply, but decided to just laugh again and shake his head. Then there was silence as they walked down the road towards the corner of the street, where they would probably turn around and head back home. Another person was walking in the opposite direction, hands shoved in the pockets of their jacket, the hood of which was covering their head entirely as they stared at the ground. Chris wondered if that person even realized they were walking as well, or maybe they would just bump into each other.

It seemed as though the other person did recognize their presence, and even tried to completely avoid the boys altogether. But as the mysterious stranger passed by, something clicked; Jonathan's head turned and he loudly exclaimed, “Oh my God, Kirsten!”

“What?” Chris immediately asked. He turned around fully, and the hooded figure had stopped, as if Kirsten knew she'd been caught, but for some reason she thought she might get away with it if she began to walk away fast. “Kirsten!!”

This time she stopped and turned to them. A guilty smile spread across her face, and even though they had certainly recognized her, she kept her hood up as she strolled over to the boys.

“Hey... guys...”