As promised, 2 1/2 hours later, Zane was taken out of his cell and reunited with his family. They made an exception for Zane this time and allowed Chance to sit outside the cell and hold Zane's hand until he calmed down from his panic attack. When he calmed down, he lay on the metal bench cemented to the floor and fell asleep. Chance was brought back to his family during that time. Zane couldn't go back to school for the day, not only because he was arrested and therefore wasn't allowed back for the rest of the day, he also went home and calmed down on an emergency call with his therapist, Dr.Black.

He talked about the attack, the triggers, the Emo, how Shane helped him, how he might have real feelings for the boy, how he and chance fought together, how thankfully Jason's family wasn't pressing charges and said they'd care for the hospital bills themselves. Soon enough, he convinced his mothers to let him back out of the house.

"Where are you going anyways?"

"To the school, I'm gonna see a friend."

"The boy from before?"

"Yes, ma. His name is Shane, we're going to get coffee."

"A date? Already? You have a date?!"

Zane shakes his head grinning, "You're more excited than I am."

"Nonsense. Are you sure you're okay to go out though? You just had an attack, Zane."

"I know, but I'm ready. I really want to see this boy."

His mother grabs his face and kisses his cheek.

"Call me or your brother, whenever, for any reason, big or small, even if it's just not going well."

"I know," the taller male laughs. He kisses his mother's cheek. "I'll be back soon."

"Invite him for dinner!" She clasps her hands together. "Please, he helped you with your attack earlier. I want to thank him."

"Fine, I'll invite him. He might say no though, he's got social anxiety."

"That's alright with me, have fun, stay safe."

His mother rushes him out of the door, after yelling that she loves him. He laughs and starts the short stroll to the school. He reaches 3 minutes before the bell rings. Some students already escaping the doors earlier, watching him cautiously or giving him weird looks. He knows that there's at least some video of his meltdown going around, but he won't hesitate to correct anybody. Soon enough, 5 minutes after the bell went off, the little Emo finds him in the crowd.

"Hi there," the taller man smiles, then wraps his arms around the short boy's shoulders.

"Hi, are you doing better?"

"I am. Thank you, you helped a lot," he sighs into the boy's hair.

Shane can't help but grin and tighten his hands around the boy's built frame.

"Hey, aren't you gonna get cold without a jacket?"

"Nah, I'm used to cold weather. I slept on the street at 11 years old during the freeze, I can manage a little wind," he laughs.

Shane finds comfort in Zane's chest vibrating against his own, he closes his eyes.

"You wanna get out of here? Coffees on me."

"I got money for it," Shane pulls away, and glances at Zane's hand. "Trust me, I can pay."

Zane grins and grabs Little Emo's hand, pulling him along as he says "I always pay for the first date."

With a wink, the boys start walking to the local Starbucks. Holding hands, feeling the breeze, in comfortable silence, neither boy cares much about anything else. They enjoy the time, passing an elementary school on the way, and getting waves and hellos from the small children. They walk to the fence, and Shane squats to a child's level.

"Where's Maddy, Ella?"

"I'll get her," the small ginger girl runs away with a grin.

"My cousin goes here," Shane smiles. "They always have recess before their school lets out. Normally I pick her up, but not today. Today she's going with her dad, so I wanna see her before we get coffee."

Soon, a small girl with blue streaks in dirty brown hair runs forwards. She wears overalls with a long sleeve under, along with sneakers and a beanie. She yells for Shane. Shane puts his hand through the fence and grabs his cousin's hand.

"Maddy, this is my friend Zane. Zane meet Maddy, she's like my baby sister."

"I'm not a baby anymore!" She pouts but can't hide her smile.

"You always will be in my eyes, Madz. How's school?"

"Caleb's mean," her eyes go to a black-haired boy, dark chokers skin with an orange Nike shirt and black basketball shoes. He smiles and waves at her, then sticks out his tongue. "See, he's mean."

"I don't think he really means it, I think he's just playing around," Zane kneels in front of the fence. "Maybe ask him to be nicer."

She pulls her lips into a thin line, then lets go of her cousin's hand and reaches for the older males. She puts her small hand through the fence and holds his fingers.

"Are you dating my Shane-y?"

"No, we're just friends," Zane's eyes go wide then he bellows out a laugh. "We're just friends, we're about to go get coffee."

She smiles.

"Do you like him?"

"Maddy, that's enough," Shane's face reddens. "That's far more than enough."

"What, you obviously like him," she rolls her eyes and then pulls away her hand. "Loser," she sticks her tongue out at her cousin.

"What are you- no, you know what. No cookies when you come over next."

Madeline looks very offended, but Shane stood to his word and repeated his statement. She pouts, but g he r said he loved her and that she should go be with her friends. She called him a "cookie crook", then said she loves him and ran off.

"That was a lie, I'm a sucker for sweets" the Emo laughs at himself.

Zane also laughs and grabs his date's hand. They fall back into a comfortable silence, until almost halfway to the coffee shop. When they do start conversing again, it's about small things like their music taste, and their different styles. Shane liked to spend time with the man, he found him entertaining and real. Not many people who talked with the emo liked him that much. But, it seemed to Shane that he found someone new who likes his company. And even if dating didn't work out, Shane hoped they would be friends.

"I'm sorry about earlier," Zane frowns. "How bad is the gossip?"

"I'm not gonna lie... if I were you I should show your face for a few days."

"That bad, huh?"

"I mean, yeah. Big Bad Boy has a mental breakdown and assaults the school officer, had an actual police officer escort him out of the school, that's kinda big talk for our school."

Zane chuckled as he looks to his feet, "I wish I wasn't like this honestly. I don't like people seeing that side of me."

Shane's grip on the male tightens, it's comforting to the taller figure. They step into the coffee shop together, Shane orders first, then Zane. Before Shane can swipe his card Zane puts his chip in.

"Hey-"

"No, I already said I'm paying. I always pay for the first date."

Shane smiles and shakes his head, but he gives his date a hug in appreciation. They wait for their coffee in silence, holding each other's backs, and leaning on each other. When they do get their coffees they sit at a table outside and continue their conversation from before.

"I have, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder," Zane leans back and closes his eyes. One hand on his coffee, his other hand holding Shane's on top of the table. "When my parents passed I was put into the custody of my uncle who abused me. Everything the S.R.O. did today triggered me, like putting me in handcuffs. My uncle would tie my hands and feet together so I couldn't fight back, so that definitely didn't help. I already had anxiety and was ticked off from getting blamed for the fight, so I stormed off and he detained me. I panicked because his tone and his words were the same as my uncle's. My brother de-cuffed me, but it was already too late, I was already 9 years old and on the floor, getting beat up by my uncle."

"I'm sorry that happened to you, I can't even begin to imagine how horrible you feel, how scared you were. I can't imagine. That's horrible, Zane."

"It's been 8 years. My PTSD has gotten better, I go to a shit load of therapy and I'm on a million medications, but yeah, you're right. My uncle blamed me for my parents' death. I don't think I can get into that right now though," he gives a weak smile to the Emo.

"I don't expect you to, it's okay, take your time."

"After I left my uncles," Zane sits up straight and takes a sip of the hot coffee in his hand. "I was sent to an orphanage. Well, sorta. America doesn't have any more orphanages, it's not legal, but there are basically orphanage-like places for kids to go. I hated it there. I was there for half a year and ran away. I lived on the streets in the city till I was 12 and 1/2, so a whole year. I ended up being brought back to the system, funnily enough, by my adoptive parents. They found me and brought me back, when they left they came back a year later and took me in. No matter how bad I acted up they stayed with me."

"Did you get so good at fighting because of living on the street?"

"No, well kinda. I fought well with weapons, anything you find out there in the city is a weapon. I almost got mugged by a dude on crack, so I grabbed some random plywood and ended up almost cracking his skull with it. After my parents took me in, they saw I was struggling and they thought it'd be good for me to train with someone for my mental health reason. I now have a personal trainer, I have for a few years now. His name is Gavin, he's like an actual uncle to me, someone I can trust and rely on. He's helped me not only bulk up but also taught me a mix of martial arts that I've mastered so far. And boxing. He told me that as long as he was my trainer I wasn't allowed to use cheap shots or street fights. We have a code, the first punch no matter what needs to be thrown by the opposite party."

"So that's why you let them rough you up a little?"

"Exactly. While they were doing street fighting, you could tell by their attacks and positions, I was using my martial arts and some basic self-defense maneuvers. Like the arm behind the back, that's an easy one if you're weighing a little more than your attacker and can keep level-headed. You can easily dislocate someone's shoulder doing that, I have before."

"You have before?"

"I have. I may live... here... now, but the city is still my territory. My old friends, my gang," Zane smiles and pulls out his phone. He opens the screen to the pictures and selects his first favorite phone. "These guys, the dumbasses that I love. They are my gang, and we have our territory."

The picture holds a roughed-up Zane in the middle of 7 people. Zane's nose is broken and his eye is swollen. Yet, he's grinning at the camera. Zane had just won a fight in their territory, he felt victorious with his two best friends on his shoulder. He felt like he could conquer the world at the moment of the picture. 

"You all are vastly different," the little Emo laughs and Zane squeezes the boy's hand lightly. "It's nice that you have them. I can't imagine what it's like to be forced into an area you've never been before."

"Hey, how about you meet them this weekend? Would you really like to go to a party with me?"

"I would," the Emo smiles warmly. "I really would."

Zane leans over and kisses the emo's cheek. Shane grins at him.

"You know how to skate?"

"Like, board or actually skates?"

"Board, or skates, I don't judge."

"I do both," Shane smiles warmly, "why you ask?"

"We'll, our parties aren't house parties. We go to the skate park. We skate, drink a little, sometimes get a little high, and sometimes mess around with the spray paint. Ya know, normal teenage skate parties."

"I actually wouldn't know, my parents are very conservative and uptight."

"So, how you gonna get out this weekend?"

"I'll tell them I'm on a date with Gill, they've been dreaming of the day we get together. They have no clue we're both gay."

"Ahh, this should be fun," Zane leans back with a smile, putting the coffee to his lips. "So, tell me more about your friends?"

—

"If I didn't ask now, my mother would kill me. She wants to know if you'd like to come home for dinner tonight?"

Shane smiles and checks his watch for the date, "I can't tonight, but honestly I really would like to. So, why would they want me over for dinner?" He leans forwards on the table.

"I think they caught along when we were in the office."

"Probably," Shane laughs gently, he puts the straw to his lips. "I didn't expect that kiss earlier."

Zane bites his lip, Shane smiles and sucks the coffee from the straw, the cold espresso sends chills down his spine.

"I should've asked, I'm sorry," Zane gives the emos hand a squeeze.

"I'm teasing you," the Emo flashed his white teeth as he grins. "I didn't mind it at all."

"So, come to dinner another day when you're free?"

"Absolutely," Shane nods. Zane pulls the boy's hand to his lips and kissed his knuckles.

"Good. Now, for this weekend date, I figure I should give you some basic information?"

Shane nods gently, then moved their hands, and their finger locked together on top of the table.

—