The next morning, I wake up to someone shaking me lightly along with the sun beaming in my eyes. I groan before rolling over onto my stomach to get away from the blinding light that I've learned to hate with a passion ever since I started living here. I can hear the soft chuckle coming from Julian, but I ignore it as I try my best to go back into the lovely warmth of sleep. Of course, I wasn't going to be let off so easy because just a few seconds later, I'm being shaken again. "What do you want?"

"We gotta work today, Mila, which means you have to wake up," Julian's soft voice tells me and I'm instantly brought back to the night prior. Silent auction, Ivy's panic attack, George and Simba, lots of alcohol, sucking my fiance's dick, throwing up, and then being tucked into the bed I was currently laying in. My head was starting to pound lightly and my stomach burned just from the thought of anything going into my body.

"I can go in late," I tell him as I lean over to pet Bailey's head since he had decided to take Julian's spot while it was unoccupied. He was passed out on top of the blanket with his tongue hanging slightly out of his mouth, but as soon as I move an inch, he would give me a look that resembled a glare.

Julian chuckles before leaning down to place a soft kiss to the back of my head since I was faced away from him. "No, you can't. I'm coming in with you to help coordinate the fundraiser with the other volunteers, remember? You can't push that off just because you're hungover."

"Who the fuck decided to have a silent auction on a Sunday?" I groan, making him laugh from behind me. He rubs my bare back a bit from his spot on the bed next to me before I feel him get up and opening the bedroom door.

"Get dressed, I'll go make you breakfast. Be down there within 30 minutes," he tells me, knowing that I'm going to move like a snail since I didn't feel good.

"No food," I say, knowing that I'll probably just vomit again if I even smell food. Look, Julian's cooking was good, but not good enough to make me want to eat it in my current state. The last time I got this drunk, which was a few months ago with Mia and Julian at the same bar that I met him at for the third time, he made a bunch of food for me in the morning and was so upset when I didn't eat any of it.

"You don't want to eat?" He asks.

I shake my head, letting out a groan before turning onto my back to look up at my fiance in his glasses that I've learned to love so much. Just a few months ago, he was told that his eyes were bad enough to have to wear glasses all the time instead of just while he was reading. He usually wore contacts, but I loved him whenever he wore the sleek black frames that made him look so sexy. "Can I have a kiss before you go?"

He smiles at me before nodding his head and coming back to the bed. He sits on the edge before cupping my cheek and leaning down to kiss my lips softly. I slide my hand into his hair to deepen it, but he pulls away too quick for me to do anything. He chuckles when he sees my pout and runs his hand through my hair. "You need to brush your teeth before we do anything."

He winks at me before getting up from the bed and leaving the room. I let out a groan before rolling onto my stomach again to get away from the blinding sun. After about 15 minutes of staying in bed, I find the strength to get up and go to the closet to start getting ready for the day ahead of me.

"I'm just saying, maybe having all of the kids there would do us good. They could share their stories with people that are on the fence about donating and help us push our goal even further," Zachariah tells me. We had been in this meeting for about 30 minutes, mostly talking about what it was going to be like the day of the fundraiser. But as soon as I mentioned the kids, Zachariah immediately spoke up about how he wanted all of the kids from both of our homes in the city to attend.

"No, I don't want all of the kids at the fundraiser," I say, noticing that Julian nods his head with my statement. Zach rolls his eyes at the two of us, which was usual. He could be a bit of a brat at times, but we've all gotten used to him since the kids really liked him. He had come in about a year ago and was one of the first people that volunteered to move into our second location in our city.

"But why not? It would be good publicity," he asks, looking confused. I notice Bradlee glance at me from the corner of his eye, probably just hoping that I didn't freak out on the guy because he mentioned publicity. Don't get me wrong, I love that we have good media attention, but I didn't want to ever put any of the kids into the eye of the media unless they wanted to be. Some of them didn't want that and I 100% respected that because that was their choice. I'm not going to force them to do anything they don't want to because they've probably already been through that enough in their lives.

"I don't care about publicity. I don't care if there's just one guy with a camera at the fundraiser. It won't change the fact that I will absolutely not make any of our kids go to this event if they aren't ready or if they don't want to. Their safety and their happiness should be all of our top priority," I tell him, narrowing my eyes so he would understand that I was serious.

"Come on, Miles, it'll get them out of the house for a change. They won't be stuck at home or in this center like they are every day. This'll be a good thing for them and-" Zach starts, but I cut him off by holding up my hand. I notice his change of mood when I do that, but I didn't care right now.

"Those kids can go anywhere they want if they're escorted by a volunteer and you know that. They're not stuck here or at home because we give them choices. But regardless of that, if those kids are at the event, then they're automatically at risk of being asked about their past, which can 100 percent start something that doesn't need to be started. Our kids have been to hell and back and if being put on camera or talking to a bunch of adults is hard on them, then I won't push them to do it. You think they just don't want to be on camera? No, because there's always an underlying message that they're trying to tell us. Maybe they don't want to mention their past to a stranger. Maybe they don't want their parents or family to see them on television. There's always a good reason."

I look at Zach to see him giving me a guilty expression before he nods his head. "You're right, I'm sorry."

"If you want to take them out one day to get them out of the house, be my guest. Just run it by me and I'll approve of it. I get that you just want them to have fun, but things like this can get dark very fast and I don't want to push these kids to their breaking point," I tell him. I feel a hand placed on my leg in support and I look up to see Julian giving me a warm smile.

Before I could say anything further to move the meeting along, the conference room door opens and Jessica, our volunteer filling in for the receptionist position, pokes her head in. She looks around the room before her eyes land on me with a concerned expression. "I'm so sorry to interrupt, but Miles, that girl is back."

"She's back?" I ask in shock as I stand up and make my way towards the door. I'm assuming she's talking about the blonde girl because no other kids had come in and left as she did in a while. I glance at Julian to silently ask him to take care of the meeting and he nods his head before turning to the other volunteers with a clearing of the throat.

I walk out of the conference room to look at Jessica. She had gladly offered to stay at the receptionist desk during the meeting since I needed someone there in case anyone came in or if any of the kids needed anything. "Yeah, she's back. She seems a bit calmer now, but she still seems a bit skittish, so stay calm with her."

"Okay," I tell her as we walk into the main room where the desk sat where everyone had to sign in. In front of it stood the same girl that I had seen just two weeks ago. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a braid as she had on a long, plaid trench coat. She wore leggings and a white t-shirt along with it and I notice that she did look a lot calmer than she did previously.

When I walk up to her, she looks up from her feet and when she sees me, her eyes widen a bit before she forces that down. I go to say something, but she beats me to it. "I'm so sorry for just leaving last time. I'm just a little scared about being here."

"Don't worry about it," I say in a soft voice that I used whenever I talked to a young person. "I know that the center can be a bit overwhelming for new people, but I promise you that everyone here is super nice and accepting to everyone."

"I just... will you have to tell my parents that I'm here? Because they can't know," she says and I notice that she looks much worried as soon as she brings up her parents.

"As long as you don't do anything illegal, are being kind to everyone, and are being safe, then we won't tell them. The only thing that we need from you for to be able to stay here is your parent or guardian's phone number, just in case of emergencies, but other than that, we won't contact them. We know that people aren't as accepting of things like this, especially some parents, so don't worry. Just follow the rules and you'll be okay," I tell her.

"Okay," she whispers and I reach over the desk to grab one of the clipboards that we had on hand for new support center attendees. This center was opened for anyone from 3:00 in the afternoon to 9:00 at night. It was mostly kids from both of our Home Our Community homes, but we still had a good share of other people coming in the meet other LGBTQ+ people.

I walk her over to two open chairs and motion for her to sit before sitting down next to her. I take the pen from off the clipboard before giving her a small smile. "Alright, so what's your name?"

"Nora," she whispers and I write it down on the first line. I look over at her, waiting to see if she would tell me her last name, but when she doesn't speak, I give her another warm smile.

"Last name?"

She looks wary of that and glances down at her feet with a nervous expression. I wait for her to speak because I didn't want to push even more for her to leave. She looks hesitant when she looks up at me again, but then her eyes clear into an emotion I couldn't quite decipher. "Um, it's Lynn. Nora Lynn."

"Nora Lynn, that's a very beautiful name," I tell her before writing it down on the clipboard. I go through the rest of the questions before I set the papers onto the desk and go back over to sit next to the girl. She still looks extremely nervous, which was usual. Whenever you walked into the center, you're attacked by the huge rainbow painting that was behind the receptionist desk and that can be super overwhelming if you're trying to accept your sexuality. I mean, I didn't even know if this girl was questioning herself. We've had tons of allies come in that just wanted to learn more about our community because their parents had tried to hide it from them their whole lives.

"Um, what do you do here?" She asks, looking over at me with the first smile that I've gotten out of her. I smile back, glad that she was starting to open up with me, even if it was very slow. She did have a gorgeous smile and I was happy that she was starting to use it.

"Well, we have multiple rooms here. There's a game room that has pool and ping pong, there are entertainment rooms that have TVs and computers, and there's a library with books. We don't have that many, but we have a fair selection. On Thursdays, we have a support group with Andrea Sutton, who is a licensed psychiatrist. We just talk through things in a closed session, meaning that we don't talk about any of the things that were said inside of that room once we leave. You're more than welcome to check it out, but some weeks, the support groups are just for the kids in Home Our Community homes, so just be prepared for that," I tell her.

"Okay," she whispers again, looking around at all the artwork on the walls. I was suddenly hit with an idea because I specifically remember that when she first showed up, she wanted to see Julian and he was here now. Maybe that's something that'll make her open up and it might even make her feel better.

"Do you want to meet Julian? I know you wanted to last time," I tell her and as soon as I mention his name, her head snaps up to look at me. She immediately looks nervous again, so I decide not to say anything further until she does. After a few minutes of her just staring at me, she nods her head.

"Yeah, that's fine," she whispers.

"Alright, just wait here and I'll go get him, okay?" I say, standing up before turning to her with a reluctant look. For some reason, I had a feeling that if I left her now, she'll bolt, but I wanted to see what she would say to Julian, so I guess it was worth the risk.

"Okay," she says with a nod of the head. I glance up at Jessica sitting behind the receptionist desk to silently tell her to watch after her, which she nods her head at. I quickly make my way through the center until I'm in front of the conference room door that I was previously in. I open the door slowly before sticking my head in to look at Julian, who was in the middle of talking to the volunteers.

"That's a great idea. Keeping at least one volunteer with each group of kids would definitely be the best option. I think..." he was saying, but trails off when he sees me.

"Sorry, but I need to steal you for a moment," I tell him. He nods his head before pushing out of his seat before turning back to the group that was watching us with curious eyes.

"Uh, keep thinking of ideas for the event. We'll be back shortly," Julian tells them before putting his hand on my back and guiding me out of the room. "what's going on?"

I let out a sigh, turning to face him with a small smile. "Okay, there's this girl named Nora, who showed up two weeks ago asking for you. I'm pretty sure I told you about her, but she's back and I finally got some information out of her and stuff and I offered for her to meet you because that's basically what she wanted last time she showed up. She's very nervous and I'm afraid she'll just leave if we push too much, so just be calm."

He smiles down at me before nodding his head. "I think I can do that."

I nod my head before running my hands together when we start to move towards the front room. For some reason, I was super worried because there's something about this girl that just seems so familiar to me. I don't what it is and I can't place my finger on it, it was just a gut feeling that made me super nervous just being around her. When Julian and I walk into the front room, Nora shoots to her feet as her hands tremble lightly by her side.

"Hi, you must be Nora," Julian says in the soft voice that he usually uses with the kids. "I heard that you were looking for me a few weeks ago and I'm sorry that I wasn't here to talk. Is there something I can do to help or did you just want to meet me?"

She freezes for a second as she stares at him, but then she breaks eye contact and looks down at her feet. Both Julian and I don't say anything more because we wanted her to speak and tell us what was going on if there even was something. After a few minutes, she looks back up, but instead of focusing on Julian, she focuses on me. "I just wanted to meet."

"Okay, that's perfectly fine," I tell her, feeling that if Julian talked more, it'll just freak her out. "do you want to look around the center a bit? Maybe familiarize yourself with everything we have? Julian or I could take you or we could even have Jessica walk through it with you. Whatever you want."

"Yeah, that sounds..." Nora starts but gets interrupted by her phone buzzing in her jacket pocket. She glances at us for a second before pulling her phone out and once she sees the notification, her face goes pale. Before I could do anything to ask what was going on, she reaches down to get her bag before looking at me quickly. "I'm sorry, but I have to go."

And just like that, she's gone. I try to go after her, but Julian's hand shoots out and grips my shoulder to keep me in my place. He walks around to stand in front of me with a soft smile. "Let her go, Miles. She'll be back again. She seemed interested in walking around the place and seeing everything, but something just spooked her, okay? She'll come back and you'll be able to help her once she does."

"I just wish I could help now," I whisper to him.

"I know, but we can't save everyone. And if for some reason, she doesn't come back, that's not your fault. You tried your best, okay? Don't beat yourself up for someone else's actions," he tells me.

I nod my head, knowing that he's right. If she really did want help, she'll be back and if she doesn't, then she won't. I can't force her to do anything and I didn't want to push her more than I had to. "I know."

"Now, come on. Let's focus on helping the people that we can," he says before grabbing my hand and pulling me back towards the conference room. I let out a sigh before we walk in because I couldn't dwell on Nora anymore because there are tons of other kids that were already asking for my help. I needed to focus on them.