Zay took a seat behind his desk. It was weird to have an office. He hadn't expected them to give him his own space, his own office. He figured they would give him the use of a room so he could speak privately with the teens who asked for someone to talk to. He smiled at the girl sitting across the desk from him.

"Hello, I'm Zayden."

Her smile was tentative. "I'm Leea. When they said there was someone I could talk to, I didn't expect the person to be my age."

He grinned at her. "It's nice to meet you, Leea. I'm here because it isn't easy for kids to talk about things like this with adults. Now, what do you want to talk about?"

She twisted her hands together. "I think I might, you know ... like girls."

He chuckled and she flinched. "I'm sorry, I wasn't laughing at you. Might?"

She lifted a slender shoulder in a half shrug. "I don't know, I mean ... I'd rather look at girls than guys."

"Are you attracted to only girls?"

Her eyes went to her lap and she shrugged again.

He sighed. It was hard enough for kids to admit to their feelings, even more difficult for them to talk about them. "There is no shame in admitting to it. It took me a long time to admit to myself that I'm gay. My parents are obsessively religious and the church they attend strictly prohibits same-sex relationships, so there was no help from them. I spent most of my life denying it because I thought that was what I was supposed to do. Now that I'm finally out, I'm happier than I've been in a long while. It isn't easy, my parents are pretending I don't exist and I had to move out of the house, but I'm happy with the decision I made." He watched as she slumped in her seat.

"I'm not worried about my parents, they're super supportive of anything I want to do." She smiled. "They held a coming-out party for my mom's friend when he finally decided to tell his family that he's gay a couple of years ago."

"All right, if you aren't worried about your parents what are you worried about?"

"Making a mistake."

He smiled. "We all make mistakes, Leea, it's part of life."

"What if I announce it and then ... I'm not."

"Then you aren't. If that's all you have to worry about then wait until you're certain. Ask a girl you like out, let her know you like her but she's your first girlfriend and you aren't completely certain about things yet. If you never take that step then you'll never know for certain."

"How did you know?"

He sat back in his seat. "I never had a crush on a girl, it was always boys for me. There were no 'what if' doubts. It's not the same for everyone. I denied it for a long time and tried to date girls, but it always ended quickly. I wasn't interested in any of them."

She chewed her lip and remained silent.

"I can't tell you what it is you need to do, that is up to you. It's your decision to make, Leea. But, I am here if you need someone to talk to. I'll listen and do my best to help you work things out. But I'm not going to tell you what to do. You need to make that decision on your own."

She smiled. "Thank you."

"Any time."

She sighed. "Before I do anything I think I want to talk to my parents about it."

He smiled. "I'm sure they'll be happy to help you through it." He held out a card to her. "If you ever need to talk, call me. My cell number is on the card."

She took the card with a bright smile. "Thanks. I didn't think talking about it would help, but it did." Her eyes were on the card when she spoke again. "You said you're happy now, are you with someone?"

"Yes, I have a boyfriend."

"Is he one of the guys you had a crush on?" she asked as she lifted her eyes to meet his gaze.

"No, it was totally unexpected. I didn't even know he was interested. The guy I've had a crush on for a long time was dating someone else when I decided to come out. You can't always dictate the road your life takes, sometimes you just have to go along for the ride."

She giggled. "It's nice to know things can work out for the best."

"It is."

She rose and stuffed the card into her pocket. "Thank you again."

"Any time."

She left the office with a smile on her face. He felt good about the conversation. Leea's situation wasn't complicated in comparison to his, she had little worry about what her family would do when she told them. She was simply uncertain about her ability to make a decision. She was the third person he'd spoken to today. The first had been an angry young man who would rather not admit he was gay. In his mind it was wrong and he didn't want to be gay. The guy ranted and raved and refused to listen to anything he had to say on the subject. He gave the guy his card but he doubted he'd be back. Unless he wanted to come to terms with the fact he was gay, there was nothing Zay could say to him that would make a difference. The kid thought being gay made him less of a man.

A grin settled onto his face when he thought of Seth, no one would ever see him as anything less. He was confident and nothing about him gave off the impression of weakness because of his sexual preferences. He could say the same about West. His eyes went to the picture frame on the corner of his desk. It was a recent picture he'd taken of Seth standing beside the Christmas tree. Though Seth was smiling, he knew he hadn't wanted to pose for the picture, he'd protested loudly but he'd done it because he wanted Zay to be happy. That was what was important in a relationship, the give and take to make certain you were both happy. His fingers traced over Seth's face and a smile touched his lips.

"Zay?"

He looked up at Alyssa's mother with a smile. "Yes?"

She stepped into his office and shut the door. "How are things going?"

"Good, I had a tough one earlier, but it's been good. I want to thank you for this."

She flapped a hand in the air as she took a seat in front of the desk. "It was no problem. I'm glad the job is working out. You could make a career out of this you know if you want to take classes and earn a degree you could come on board full time."

His smile brightened. "I think I'd like that."

"If you need advice on classes let me know, I can work up a list for you."

"Thank you. I mean it, I know things aren't good between Alyssa and me right now and I'm glad for your help."

She flapped a hand in the air again. "You're still part of our family, Zay, whether you and Alyssa are currently speaking or not." She sighed. "She cares, Zay, remember that. She simply wants what is best for you."

"Then she should be happy that Seth makes me happy."

She nodded. "Yes, but she worries and the things she has heard about him haven't alleviated that worry." When he opened his mouth to speak, she held up a hand to stop him. "It matters little how your relationship is, she will worry because she loves you. You are the closest thing she has to a brother and she will do what she can to protect you. We are on our guard after the accident, but she is still convinced Seth had something to do with it. Unless something convinces her otherwise, she will continue this way. It hasn't helped her opinion of things to have the cops all over her insisting she staged the accident. I'm sorry to see the two of you at odds, but that is how life works out sometimes."

He sighed. "Yeah, I miss her but I can't handle listening to her rail against Seth. He's done nothing underhanded, and from everything that I've seen, he's trying to go straight, and leave the gang behind. He lost everything, not that he ever had much to begin with, but he's been on his own for a long time. He was closed off emotionally whether he wanted to admit to it or not because of how his parents were. We're good together."

"I'm glad you're happy, Zayden." She rose. "Try not to be too hard on Alyssa."

He nodded but he couldn't forgive her for the way she'd been acting since he started dating Seth. She wanted him to be with West. He sighed. "She wants me to date Weston and she'll do anything to make it happen."

She laughed and headed for the door. "I think she'd like to see you two together, but if that is the only motive you believe she has, then you don't know her as well as I believed." She opened the door and passed through it into the hallway beyond.

Zay sat back in his chair and stared at the door. He'd always liked Alyssa's mother, she was the kind of woman he wished his mother could be. Kind, caring, and there when you needed someone to talk to. Still, he couldn't forgive Alyssa for the way she'd been acting. She wanted to condemn Seth with no evidence. He shook his head, he still couldn't believe she wanted to blame Seth for her brakes randomly giving out. It was insane. It was a little weird that the cops wanted to blame Alyssa for the accident. He shook his head, who knows what happened. He might not have the entire story. Still, he knew Alyssa and she'd never do something like that.

***

Alyssa put her chin in her hand and listened as her mother spoke.

"I think he's enjoying the work and he's expressed an interest in taking classes to earn a degree and make it a full-time job. He's happy."

"I'm glad. He needs something more to be happy about than Seth."

"Indeed, but he does appear to be quite happy with Seth. You might want to consider that you're wrong about the boy."

She sighed. "I'd like to, but I can't shake this feeling that it's all an act. After everything West has told us about him it's hard to think he's changed that much. I love Zay and I want him to be happy, I simply don't think Seth is the key to his happiness."

"Well, consider that you could be wrong. You care about Zay, I understand that, but if you continue to bad mouth Seth you could lose Zay from your life permanently."

She ran a hand through her hair. "I know. There doesn't seem to be much I can do to change that, not as long as he is with Seth. I wish I could change how I feel, but I can't."

Her mother nodded. "All right, I thought I'd at least give you my opinion."

"Thanks, Mom, I appreciate it. If things change then they do, if they don't then I guess it wasn't meant to be."

Her mother hugged her and left the room.

With a sigh, she gathered her things, packed them into her backpack, and left her room. She'd come home to grab some stuff she'd forgotten. It was true, she wanted Zay to be happy, but she couldn't see his happiness continuing if he was with Seth. There was something slimy about the guy and she couldn't bring herself to trust him. She stopped in the living room to tell her parents goodbye. They had stayed at her aunt's house for a week before returning, they didn't want to put their lives on hold. She couldn't blame them. All she could hope was that Seth wouldn't try anything else. Maybe the thing with her brakes had been a warning for her to back off. She couldn't begin to fathom the guy's motives and she didn't want to take too deep a look into Seth's twisted mind.

If Zay wanted to continue to date him there was nothing she could do about it. She would be there for him if things went to shit, but she wasn't going to support the relationship, she couldn't. It hurt to think Seth would try and destroy him as he'd done with West.

When she arrived at Josh's house, Seth and his motorcycle were blocking the driveway. She scowled at him and sent Josh a text before she rolled down her window. "Get out of the way, you're blocking the driveway."

"That was kinda the point," he told her.

"What do you want?"

He stepped closer to the car and crossed his arms on the edge of the open window. "I wanted to talk to you about Zay. Back off, let him be happy."

She snorted. "With you? Yeah, right."

He shook his head. "Why can't you let him live his life?"

"I could if he wasn't dating a psychopathic lunatic."

"You mean if he was dating Weston?" he asked. "That is your issue, isn't it? You want him with West."

"I meant if he was dating anyone but you," she snapped. "Now get your bike out of my way."

"I suggest you leave Zayden be or you might find a hell of a lot more wrong with your car than simply some missing brake fluid," he replied in a cold voice.

"Is there a problem with your bike, Seth? I can call a tow for you," Weston called as he and Josh came down the driveway.

He stepped away from Alyssa's car. "Nope, no problem I wanted to talk to Alyssa."

"Well, you've talked now leave before we call the cops," Josh told him.

He chuckled and went back to his bike, threw a leg over it, and settled into the seat. "They wouldn't do much, I am on a public street."

"You're blocking the driveway and you're harassing Alyssa," Josh snapped.

"Whatever you'd like to believe. I'm going." He glanced at Alyssa with a grin. "Good talking to you." The bike's engine roared to life and he peeled away from the house.

When Josh and West moved to one side, she pulled into the driveway and parked behind Josh's truck. He pulled her into a hug when she stepped out of the vehicle.

"You okay? What did that asshole say to you?"

"He told me to back of Zay or I might find there's more wrong with my car than missing brake fluid."

West sucked in a breath. "We should call the police."

"And tell them what? It's my word against his, we have no proof he threatened me. The cops already think the accident was some stunt I pulled because I'm a depressed attention-seeking teenager."

"Good point. Shitty, but good point," West said with a sigh.

She nodded and they moved into the house. West dropped down on one side of the sectional, while Josh prowled around the room. Alyssa took a seat on the other end of the couch with a sigh. Seth held all the cards and there was little they could do to outplay him. It seemed as if the only thing they could do was lose to the bastard. She feared what they would lose would be Zayden.