"We expected you to be home, Jackson, you better not have gotten into trouble last night I swear to god. If you're at another hospital or police station, you'll be grounded for life. Do you hear that? We can't keep putting up with your shit! You need to start doing better, Jackson."

"I stayed at a friend's house, mom. It's no big deal. I didnt get in any trouble."

"How do we know you aren't lying? Where are you?"

"At a friend's house, I swear to god, I'm at a fucking friend's house," Jack groans.

"Dont you fucking curse at you're mother," I hear his father yell at him, Jack's hand goes up then slaps his leg in frustration, and the corner of his top lip rises as his eyebrows knit together. "I want you home now."

"I have plans today!"

"I don't fucking care. Get home, now. We'll talk about your little sleepover soon."

"I-" The call ended. He stands and throws the phone on the bed, groaning in anger. "I didnt do anything wrong this time," he falls to the floor on his knees, and his head falls onto my lap. "I'm not going."

"They sounded angry, are you sure you should stay?"

"I'm not leaving you today, that was my promise."

"You never made any promises," I smile and run my hand through his hair.

"Well, It is now. I promise myself not to leave you today. I want to be here for you, help you. And... I dont want to go back, not alone."

"I can't come with you, but you should call Gene, Lucas, and the rest of the guys. They'll have your back."

"No, my parents can't know I still hang out with them."

"Why?"

He sighs and sits next to me. He kisses my forehead then scoots further away and lays down. His head on my lap, his feet dangling off the edge.

"When I was in the hospital and they found out I got into a bar fight with the guys, I'm not allowed to see them outside of school, games, and practice. Games are the biggest exception. They threatened to send me to a Bootcamp, a juvenile detention camp thing if I didnt stay composed. I need to move out, the moment I'm not under their roof they can't force me. I love seeing them together, even if they are yelling at me, but when they threaten to send me away... I can't do that. I can't leave you and the gang, I can't leave my grandma..."

"Baby, you should go to them. What if they really do send you away?"

"I dont care. I'll run away. Couch hop, work my ass off to buy a place. The gang would gladly take me in, they would help me out. Fuck, I might just do that. Couch hop at their places."

"Baby," I sigh, caressing his jawline. "We would be happy to take you in as well. Jack..."

"I'm staying," his phone starts ringing. He sighs. "That's my father's ringtone, ignore it. I'm staying. I dont care what they say. I'm staying, Mac." He sits up and pulls me into a kiss, it's soft, sweet, and caring. "Let me bring you some food, you gotta eat with your meds."

"I love you, Jackson."

"I love you too, Malcolm," he kisses me again then heads to the door, he pushes it further open and doesn't shut it when he leaves.

I grab his phone and put in my thumbprint, which he made me do when I was in the hospital. I also put his thumb in my phone. I open his messages and look at the text between him and his dad. His dad says that if he doesn't respond in 5 minutes he's going to come to pick him up. How would he know where Jackson is? Is his location sharing on? If not, they're tracking him some other way. Soon enough he comes back in, grinning with a plate of food in his hand. I kiss his cheek and start shoveling food into my mouth. He smiles like he's just accomplished something amazing. He sits behind me and puts his chin on my good shoulder, and I feel him slump when he sees I'm reading text between his father and him. Well, it's mostly his father yelling at him, occasionally there's a drunk text from Jack. I laugh as I look at his spelling.

"Does you're father track you, do you have a tracking app of some sort?"

"No," he laughs. "I wouldn't ever let them track me."

I scroll to the newest text and show Jack. He grabbed it and examined it. "He's bluffing, dont worry about it," then the doorbell rings. We look at each other in shock. "It can't be him, there's no way."

He stands and I grab his hand, I tell him to wait. So we wait. We hear muffling from downstairs, then steps up the stairs. My grip on him tightens.

"Jack," my mom spears in front of the door. "A man is at the door, says he's your father. He's demanding you be brought home."

I look at Jack, worried. I'm worried now. I'm scared.

"Jack," I mumbled.

He gives a weak smile, but his eyes say otherwise. He kisses my cheek, telling me that it'll be okay. He grabs his phone and stands. I stand with him. He tried to make me sit but I made him help me downstairs. I want to meet his father again. We walk down the stairs, Jack keeping hold of my hand and my waist as he helps me with my footing down the stairs. I can walk on my leg as long as I have my boot on, so I always have the boot on so I can get around easier. His father stands from the couch and sees me. His eyes flatten, his smile disappearing. I see my own father stand.

"Mac, you're supposed to stay in bed."

"I know dad, I just wanted to meet Mr. Neroni again. Formally this time," I smile at him. "It's nice to meet you Mr. Neroni. My name is Malcolm Bandoni," I say and finally notice how similar our last names are, I grin. "I'm sorry for keeping Jackson last night. You see, I have stage 3 osteosarcoma, a bone cancer. Mine is a rare type because of the placement. So, I've had physical challenges, I have chronic pain because of said cancer, to the point I have to have medical marijuana in order to not feel pain."

Jack gives me a sad look and then takes me to the couch, he helps me sit down.

"A few days ago an incident happened at school," I lift the side of my shirt to show the huge purple bruise on my side, I let go and then lift my shirt to my shoulder. "Jackson found me, and protected me, even when it got him suspended for a week. He took me to the hospital. My ribs are broken, my leg was fractured, and my internal prosthetic bone from my cancer is in a lot of pain. I can't feel it, it's not real, but the pain I feel is in all the scar tissue in my muscles being damaged all over again. I stayed there for a while and he's been helping me a lot at home. My parents can't take off work so he's been helping me a lot. He's been a very big help."

"He really has," My father steps forward to Mr. Neroni. "He's helped with the cooking and cleaning, he's helped keep Mac out of pain, and when he is in pain he's helped him with his pen. Malcolm is on medical marijuana, It comes in the form of a very small dose of Marijana oil pods that go into Malcolm's pen. It's often confused as a vape pen, but Malcolm has never touched that stuff," My father looks at me. "Speaking of, why dont you have your pen on?"

I smile sheepishly.

"I'll get it real quick," Jack stands straight and runs to the stairs. He turns to me, "Dont move," he says then runs up the stairs.

I laugh and then wince.

"Have a seat Mr. Neroni. Would you like something to drink?" My mom motions to the couch.

Jack's dad eyes my family, then sighs and sits on the couch.

"I thought my son was getting in trouble again," he admits, his hands locked together in his lap.

"Not at all, he's been incredibly helpful. Mac's condition has worsened recently. His cancer that was on one shoulder has spread to the other. A few years ago they transplanted the cancerous bone with a metal prosthetic implant. Since then he's had a lot of pain."

Jack jogged back down the stairs and watched his father carefully. I see the plate of food that I left and my pill container in his pocket, along with my pen around his neck. I smile and call him over. He nods and puts the food in front of me putting down the pill organizer beside it. He yanks off my pen, I take it from his hand and suck it in, I frown as nothing comes out.

"Dont worry," he laughs lightly. "I got it," I watch as he almost leans down to kiss me then turns quickly and heads to my refill box. I glance at his dad and see him glaring at Jack's back. I swallow hard. He saw that slip up I think.

"He even refills the pen when Malcolm needs it. He really has been wonderful to our family. You have an amazing boy," my mom smiles and sits next to my father. They hold hands.

"Dad, I'm sorry for not telling you last night. I was so tired I just fell asleep. And I tried to explain earlier I really did just stay at a friend's house," He pops the pod back into the pen. He comes back over and puts the pen in my hand gently. I breathe in and hold. "I really wanted to stay and help Mac," he says and watches me breathe out the vapor. I lean back lightly and close my eyes. "I'll still go home, I just... I wanted to spend more time here and help out as much as I can."

I open my eyes in time to see Jack's dad give me and Jack a furious look.

"Jack, you can go," I reach and grab his arm. "I'm okay, I promise. We'll manage."

He gives me a worried look, this time not because he's scared of his dad, but because he's worried about me. He then looks at his father with a pleading look.

"You're needed at home, Jackson."

Jack frowns and looks back at me, "Make sure to take your meds on time, with food, I dont want to hear about you forgetting. Dont you dare be moving around without help, okay? Can you call Tim over to take care of you instead?"

"Jackson," I laugh lightly then wince again. "I'm okay, I promise."

He turns to my parents, "Is Tim going to be able to help?"

"Soon enough, yes. But for now, I can handle the refills and the walking," My mom stands and then hugs Jack. "Thank you so much for helping, Jackson. Remember, you're always welcome over."

Once she lets go Jack goes over to me, kneels, and hugs my shoulder gently. I lift my hand and place it on his back. My dad starts a small goodbye with Mr. Neroni, enough time to distract him. Jackson switched positions and pressed his lips to my neck lightly.

"I love you, Malcolm," he whispered in my ear and pecked my cheek.

I so badly want to tell him I love him back and pull him into a kiss, but I know I can't whisper for shit and I can't kiss him on the lips in case his father looks. So, I frown and close my eyes, I lean back.

"I'm serious, meds and food," He jokes and places his hand on my head.

I smile again and swat away the hand. He laughs then I open my eyes to see him hug my mom and dad goodbye. His dad steps out first, he turns to me and blows me a kiss, then shakes his phone. He grins and then leaves for his car.

"His dad didnt seem that bad."

"His father tracks him without consent, and you should've heard the screaming match that went on this morning, you should've seen the text I read on his phone. They say they'll send him to Bootcamp if he 'acts up' again. He only acts up because his parents can't stop fighting, the only time they agree with each other is when they're yelling at him," My hand goes to my face. "Jack was an asshole on purpose to get his parent's attention. He spent so long looking for love because he never saw love growing up. All he saw was hatred," I mumbled, my thoughts racing, I can't even keep up with my words anymore. I'm still tired. "I dont want them to send him away," tears leave my eyes. "I want him here. He doesn't deserve all the yelling he's about to hear. He deserves love."

My mom sits next to me and hugs me. Eventually, I stopped crying, ate my food, took my meds, and texted Jack that I did so. I also asked him if he was okay. I found out later it took him a day to respond to me. By the time he responded, I was still asleep in my bed, curled into the shirt he gave me the day I started really dating him.

The text in question: "I love you, Malcolm, I love you. I'll be back soon."