"Are you nervous?" Ryan questioned, pulling into the car park.

"Honestly? Yes. I know I said this earlier, but I really don't want any bother over it. I just want to go in and tell Tomas and leave. I just...don't want it dragged out," Nathan admitted as he undid his seatbelt.

"It'll be s okay," Ryan assured. "Do you want to come with us to Dylan's appointment? Or do you want to get it over with?"

"I'll come with you." Nathan instantly answered, smiling at the older man.

After Nathan strapped Dylan into his buggy, they began walking to the doctors.

It seemed with every step, Nathan's stomach clenched even more.

"It's freezing." Nathan blew into his hands to get warmer.

"It's not that bad," Ryan defended. "If Dylan can deal with it, you can."

"Dylan has got three layers of warm cloths and has a blanket! I don't even have a jacket."

"That's your own fault. If you can make sure Dylan's warm surly, you can remember to dress yourself."

"You rushed me! I care more about Dylan than myself. As long as he's warm, I don't care," Nathan defended as he pushed Dylan's buggy.

"I get that. You need to care for yourself. If you don't, you might not be strong enough to look after Dylan. Just remember your actions will impact him."

"You think I don't know that?! I highly doubt skipping one or two meals and forgetting a jacket is going to kill me. I know my actions impact him. Do you honestly think I don't? You think I don't know how it feels to have a parent choose an addiction over you? I know what it's like to never see the people you love. I'll be damned if I did that to Dylan." Nathan raged.

"Hey calm down," Ryan ordered, placing his hand on Nathan's shoulder. "I know your past Nathan, I know you wouldn't do that, I'm just reminding you to take care of yourself. Your not alone there's no reason you should forget these things." Ryan smiled.

"I know... I'm sorry," Nathan apologised.

"You have nothing to apologise for. I understand why you would think. Your stressed Nathan, I get that. Now come on, we'll be late," Ryan ordered softly.

Nathan took a deep breath and nodded.

Walking into the doctors, Nathan smiled and rubbed his arms to get rid of the goose bumps.

Walking up to the desk, Nathan smiled at the receptionist. "Hi, my son is here for a checkup."

"Okay," she smiled, typing something on her computer, her false nail constantly clicking when she typed. "What's his name?"

"Dylan Black," Nathan answered, slightly shivering when the automatic door opened and a rush of wind came in.

"Okay. I just have to ask you some questions. What's his date of birth?"

"Twenty-seventh of January 2018," Nathan answered.

The woman nodded and smiled at Nathan. "How old are you?"

"I'm seventeen," Nathan responded.

"Alright, I'm going to ask you to sign this." She pulled a piece of paper from Dylan's folder. "You can read it but it just says you are okay with the doctor performing any treatment they need to get Dylan back to health if it's necessary."

"Do you have a pen I could use?" Nathan questioned, skim reading the paper.

"Of course," she smiled. Her obnoxiously large lips were made even more obvious, handing Nathan a pen.

Writing his signature and handing the paper back to the receptionist, Nathan smiled once again.

"Have a good day," She called as Nathan turned his back to leave.

"You too," Nathan said and continued to walk away.

Walking into the waiting room, Nathan silently groaned; the entire room was packed. The baby's crying made his heartbeat quicken.

After wandering around for two minutes, Nathan finally saw Ryan sitting at the back of the room.

"I don't know how he can sleep with this noise," Nathan said, sitting beside Ryan as Dylan happily slept.

"I'm surprised he is. He slept really well last night," Ryan commented. "Did they say anything about a long wait?"

"Nope, but I doubt we'll get in on time," Nathan answered.

"Yea, I highly doubt everyone's early."

"I can hope," Nathan stubbornly answered, but Ryan didn't miss the doubt in his tone.

"Do you want me to come in with you? Or will you be fine on your own?"

"Can you come in with me? Just in case they have to do something to him."

"Of course I can. Listen to me, Nathan. Nothing is going to happen to him. You just signed that because it's a precaution. If something was wrong, we would know. Don't worry yourself about this, okay?"

"Alright," Nathan mumbled, not taking his eyes off his sleeping boy.

Over half an hour had passed, and Nathan had got impatient. His attention was instantly drawn to the door when a nurse walked through.

"Dylan Black?"

Standing up, Nathan began pushing Dylan towards the door with Ryan right behind him.

"Hi, how are you today?" The nurse questioned.

"We're fine," Ryan answered, seeing Nathan's knuckles turn white.

"Doctor Ring, I'll see you," she said, leading the group into the doctor's office.

"Good afternoon, I'm sorry for the wait," the doctor apologised, standing up and Nathan's hand.

"Don't worry about it." Ryan smiled, shaking the doctor's offered hand.

"I guess this guy is Dylan?" The doctor questioned when Nathan took Dylan out of his buggy.

The baby began crying and reached out for his bunny that lay in the blanket.

"Yes, he is." Nathan grabbed the toy from the buggy and gave it to his son. When he realised what it was, Dylan placed the bunny's ear in his mouth, thankfully calming his cries.

"If you can just place him on the table, I'll look at him. He can keep the toy if ti'll make this easier for him."

"He hasn't been here before, am I correct?" doctor Ring questions as he listened to Dylan's heartbeat.

"No, we moved, so I thought I would be easier to change," Nathan admitted.

After not taking his eyes off the doctor for ten minutes, Nathan smiled when doctor Ring turned to him.

"He's healthy. I'll organise another appointment for next month just to check his progress."

"Alright." Nathan smiled and took Dyan off the table and held the boy close.

With the appointment arranged, the group walked out.

"Are you just going to wait in the car while I get this over with?" Nathan asked as they crossed the street.

"If that's what you want," Ryan answered.

Nathan groaned as he made his way back to the car. Everything he dreaded happening, happened. Tomas begged and pleaded for him to change his mind; even making empty promises of a raise and promotion. Something less than a year ago he would have leapt at.

"How'd it go?" Ryan questioned as Nathan placed his seatbelt on.

"He did everything I didn't want him to do," Nathan responded. "Look, I don't want to talk about it. Can we just go home?" Nathan questioned when he saw Ryan open his mouth.

"Okay. I'm always here if you change your mind," Ryan reminded as he started the car.

"How about you just take it easy tonight, yeah? Well, look after Dylan, you've had a stressful day."

"Are you sure?" Nathan questioned as he tore his gaze away from the window.

"Yeah, believe me, you need it."

Nathan did as he was told that night. The second he had helped Ryan get Dylan inside and the boys' things put away, Nathan walked into his room and placed his phone on charge. After that he had a long shower, having gotten lost in his thoughts twice. Only showing his face for dinner, Nathan spent the rest of his night on the phone to Lucas, complaining to the other teen about his day. By the time they had finished their conversation, it was eleven at night. Turning his light out, Nathan fell asleep in minutes.