Kyle dialed Kay's number for what felt like the millionth time as he made his way through the airport, towards the gate. It went straight to voice mail again and he decided to actually leave a message this time.

"Hey, it's me." Very unfitting, but there was no way he could put all he was feeling into words. "Just wanted to let you know I landed. I'll try to call again after I figure out just what the hell is going on."

Because Max hadn't told him anything, except that his mom was bad and he had to get home right away and see her. He didn't know if she was sick, if she'd been in an accident or what. Max wouldn't say. He just turned a light shade of green, told him it made no difference and begged him to keep quiet. And like a good boy, he'd listened.

"I..." He had no idea what else to say. The entire situation was fucked up and the lack of sleep was making him a little hazy. "I miss you already. Hope I'll be back soon." And he hang up, focusing on not getting lost.

He wondered why Kay wasn't answering. Maybe she ran out of battery, or shut her phone off to get some sleep. It was nine a.m. and she'd missed an entire night's sleep. He should be tired too, but he wasn't. His body hummed with energy from the past twenty four hours. Kay, performing, the prom, it had all filled him with exuberance. Just his mind was a tiny bit confused because he'd jumped from extasy to worry. Whatever had happened, he hoped he could go back soon.

He exited the baggage claim area and froze. He felt like rubbing his eyes comically to make sure he was seeing straight. Because right there, at the front of the crowd, was his family. All of them. His smiling, tearful mother, his father and Sam and Jerry.

What the fuck? He just stood frozen like a moron while they waved at him. His mother looked fine. Fantastic. Happy.

"Well, don't just stand there," Freider called, waving him over. "Come and give your old man a hug."

Kyle moved mechanically towards them, and let his father and brothers hug him. His mind failed to process what was going on. Finally, he found himself facing his mother and he squeezed her shoulders.

"Mom, are you okay?"

She nodded, though tears fell down her cheeks. "Now that you're finally home, I am."

His brain started screeching like the brakes of a train as they led him out of the airport, into a silver Mercedes and he found himself on his way to their house, squeezed between the door and Sam. Sam... He'd never seen Sam in person in his life. Never touched him. Or Jerry. But he couldn't look at them, couldn't take them in when he still had no idea why he was there, what the fuck was going on, why he'd gotten in the car with them in the first place instead of back on a plane.

They sailed through downtown, into the suburbs, and stopped in front of a large two story house with a perfect lawn. As he got out of the car and stared at it, he had an awfully bad feeling about everything.

"You're awfully quiet," Sam said, stopping next to him and looking at the house, too.

Kyle looked down at him. Sam wasn't much shorter than he was, maybe three or four inches. He'd grown up so nicely, but his posture was strangely mature.

"I'm just really, really confused," he finally answered.

Sam nodded. "I know it must be a lot to take in. I can't even pretend to understand what you've been through. But you're home now and that's what matters."

Why was this about him? He wasn't there to stay. He opened his mouth to point that out, but Freider called them inside and Sam obeyed immediately. Kyle followed him through a small hallway and into a large living room.

"Great," Maxi said, rubbing her hands together. "I'll get started on lunch and Kyle, you can go unpack. Your room is the third on the right. Sam can show you."

"Wait."

All eyes turned to him with the kind of interest that made it obvious they couldn't imagine what could be wrong.

"Why am I here?" Kyle asked warily.

Silence followed his question and they all stared at him as if he was crazy.

"What do you mean, sweetheart?" Maxi asked worried. "You're here for college."

"I'm here for what?" The carry-on dropped out of his hand with a loud bang. His voice too had been too loud, too belligerent. "No. No way."

He could see the hurt in his mother's eyes, the shock on Sam and Jerry's faces, but to hell with this! What was going on? Why was he suddenly playing house with his estranged family?

"Son," Freider said calmly. "A word."

Kyle glared at him, but screaming and throwing a tantrum was probably a bad idea, so he nodded and followed his father into a room on the left which turned out to be some sort of home office. Someone had to have answers.

Freider strode behind the massive desk and sat behind it. Kyle remained standing, staring holes into his head.

"If you ever upset your mother again, you'll be very sorry indeed," his father said calmly.

He had to be kidding. "I'm already very sorry. What's this bullshit that I'm here for college?"

Freider's eyes narrowed. "Watch your tone and your mouth, boy. You're not down in hick town anymore."

Kyle clenched his fists trying to fight the rage and panic rising inside of him. The edges of his vision darkened, and he realized he was seconds away from a blackout. That couldn't happen here. Losing his head wouldn't help. He took in deep, rattling breaths, forcing calm upon himself.

Step one, figure out what was going on. Step two, get out of there and back to his life. Easy. No need to get worked up.

"Is Mom sick?"

His father frowned. "No, of course not."

"But Max said..." Max. The sting of betrayal had him cringing. Why? Why would Max lie to him?

"Max told you your mom was sick?" Freider chuckled. "How silly. I just told him to get you here. It was about time you came home, don't you think so?"

"No. This isn't funny." It was the least funny thing ever. He felt the noose tightening around his throat. His dad really thought he was there for college. This wasn't supposed to be a temporary thing. "I have a whole life and it's not here."

"Nonsense," Freider said simply. "You're still a child and it's about time you returned to your family."

The rage returned with the speed of light as every buried resent came to the forefront. "Why? You didn't give a shit for eighteen  years. Why did you suddenly decide to act like parents?"

His father stood, his fists propped against the desk. "You will show me respect, boy. I am your father. Not Max. And you will do as you are told. It was time for you to come home."

Kyle clenched his fists. "This isn't home. Texas is home. I don't want to be here anymore than you want me."

"Oh, we do want you. Your brothers and mother have been pestering me to get you here for years. I, however, thought your academics are a bit more important than their whims, so I let you finish school there. And I'm not disappointed." Freider sat back down and pulled a stack of papers towards him. "I must admit I'm impressed. UC and the Police Academy. Not to mention your interview at Harvard."

"I also got into Dallas, and that's where I planned to go, if you don't mind."

"I do mind, because UC is a much better school. And it allows you to stay home, get to know your brothers. Though, honestly, political science? You'd better switch that up with IT or somethings useful."

Kyle's head started pounding as he fought to make sense of this, but all he wanted to do was scream and throw stuff as a mantra of This can't be happening rang inside his head. He couldn't belive he was discussing his education choices with Fredier Grant, the man who had given him nothing but a few genes and his last name.

"I would like to go home, please," he said as calmly as he could.

Freider huffed. "You are home. Understand something, boy. How much longer did you think Max would put his life on hold for you? Whether you like it or not, you're here to stay."

"Oh, no." He didn't understand and Max didn't mind raising him. "I'm a grownass man and I going back to the life that I built without you."

Freider started laughing. The sound was sick and scary. "A grown-up, are you? Do you also have a secret wife and kids down there? Because Max claimed otherwise. He assured us that you were ready to return to your family." He narrowed his eyes as if to warn him to keep his mouth shut. "But by all means, grownass man, do live out on the streets for a few months until your pride deflates a bit and you learn to appreciate what you have."

"What I have is back home."

"This is home."

No, it wasn't, but it was so obvious that Freider didn't give a shit about him, about who or what made him happy. Telling him about Kay would only make him belittle her, and there was no way he was doing that, because it might end with him punching Freider in the face. So instead, he whipped around, stalked out and slammed the door behind him.

His mother and brothers were still in the living room and gawked at him as he rushed past them and up the stairs, already taking his phone out.

He diled Kay again, but it went to voicemail. He then tried Max. This was bullshit. Max would never give him up and his father was just an evil prick who wanted to screw with him. Max would fix this. He always fixed everything.

He reached the landing, but instead of heading for any of the rooms, he spotted a small wooden ladder that led to a remote door and went that way. He closed the door to what turned out to be the attic and pressed his back against it, still waiting for Max to pick up.

And he finally did. "Hello," he said, his voice shaking.

"Max, what the hell is going on? Mom's not sick. Did you know that?"

There was a long pause before Max said, "Yes."

A weight plunged into Kyle's stomach, but he tried not to jump to conclusions. "Why? Why did you lie to me?"

"Because Freider told me to get you home and I knew you wouldn't go willingly."

"Damn right. How could you lie to me about something so serious? You know what, never mind now. We'll talk about it at home. Right now I--"

"You're not coming back, Kyle."

Kyle froze. "What do you mean?"

Max took in a deep breath. "You're a huge responsibility, and I can't do this anymore. Ever since the accident..."

"That wasn't my fault!"

"It's... It's time I focused on my own life."

Kyle's grip on the phone tightened until he thought he'd crush it. "What?"

"It's best that you stay with your parents. With your real family."

"No, you're my family, my... " And the pieces slowly fell into place. "You traitorous son of a bitch! You planned everything with my father just to get rid of me!"

"There's no need for name calling."

"Name calling? I trusted you. You were the only one I had."

"That's wrong, Kyle. I'm not your father."

"And that makes it okay to screw me over? I was going to college anyway, out of your hair. With my friends! With Kay!"

The pause this time seemed to stretch for ages. "That was nothing, Kyle. Just a high school crush. Aren't you the one who insisted it was nothing?"

Kyle's vision swam again, but he forced himself to focus. "And weren't you the one who said I was a moron? I agree with you. I was. I love her."

"No, you don't. It's just a high school crush and you'll be fine. You need your family."

No, he didn't. He needed Max. He needed Kay. But it was obvious that he no longer had any support from the man who had been a father to him his entire life.

"You know what?" he said, his voice distorted by anger. "If you want me out of your life, congratulations, you've got it. You'll never see me again."

He hung up the phone and flung it across the room. It hit the wall with a bang and fell to pieces. His hands shook and his heart ached.

He sat on a dusty chair, his face in his hands. He was so screwed.

💔💔💔

The first thing Kay's mother did was snatch the phone out of her hand. Then they'd marched her to Donnie's car and they all headed home, where she was locked away in her room to be completely ignored. She hated Donnie with a passion now. She hadn't even said goodbye to Joey and Kelly, and they were going to be so worried about her. She also still had the key to Kyle's Ferrari.

Even if she pleaded and begged to at least have her phone back, her parents pretended she wasn't there. By noon, the only words her mother spoke were, "Pack up."

"Pack up? Why?"

"Because we're moving," Cassandra said, her voice robotic.

Kay's eyes widened and her heart hammered in her chest. "Moving? Are you insane? Would you go that far just to keep me away from Kyle?"

Her mother gave her the stink eye. "He ruined you. All this time, you believed you were so smart, lying to us, hanging out with him, letting him soil you, use you. But we've known. Ever since Christmas, ever since he dared raise a voice at your parents, threaten us. This is the only way to save you. The only way to get our Kathy back."

"Mom, no, please, this is crazy. I love him and he loves me."

She shook her head, the disgust obvious in the gesture. "You love Donnie. And he is fortunately still here for you and willing to help you through this. Even if you forsake him when he needed you most."

This couldn't be happening. Her parents couldn't be so obsessive, so stupid. "Mom..."

"We are done having this conversation. Pack."

Kay refused to pack up. Her father and Donnie dragged her out and locked her in William's old room while her mother packed her stuff. This couldn't be happening. Two families couldn't be packing up to move just to keep her away from the love of her life.

But she could hear her parents talking to Donnie's, discussing the details of their trip, planning rest stops. By the time evening came, they forced her inside the car and they were off into the night.

"Where are we even going?" she asked, her voice even.

"Back home," her father said, since it appeared her mother never wanted to speak to her again.

"We just left home," she pointed out. But her father's silence spoke volumes. "Wait, we're going back to Phoenix?"

"Anywhere to keep you away from that miscreant," her mother spat out.

"No, I want back. College, my friends!" Kyle.

"There are colleges in Arizona as well. And you already have friends there," her father said, his tone final.

"Are you crazy? Leaving your whole lives behind just to make me miserable?"

"We're leaving nothing behind," he pointed out. "We still have our house in Phoenix. And I've arranged to get retransfered to my old job since February. Don't you worry about us. I'm sure we'll be happy and comfortable in Phoenix, just like we were before we made the poor decision to move to Texas.

"And this isn't about your supposed relationship. It's about you changing so much that we can barely recognize you. After losing your brother, we want our little girl back. So you just worry about yourself and what you've done."

At that point, Kay couldn't take it anymore. She burst into tears, not caring that her parents could hear her wailing, because her heart was breaking. This was not a fluke. Her parents had been planning it for months and she'd been too busy being happy to pick up on the signs. Now, it was too late.

She had no phone, no one knew where she was, where she'd gone, no one could help her. It had all happened so fast! Twenty four hours ago, she was kissing Kyle, talking about five dates.

Now it was over. Over before it even began. How could he find her if he didn't even know where to start looking? Poor Kelly would be worried out of her mind. If only she'd had more time.

But time was a perverse, twisted thing, ticking the good times away at a jolly pace, lingering in misery. She was out of time. Her happiness was out of time.

Big fat raindrops splattered on the windshield, singing her misery.

🧩🧩🧩

Um, yeah, so... Things are looking like shit, to put it mildly. It's sad. It's very sad.

I bet Kay's parents were no surprise with their evil plotting. But what about Kyle's? What do you think about his real family? Especially his father. And what about Max?

Also, did I put the feelings across well?

I know you're rushing to the next chapter, so I'll leave it at that. Thanks so much for reading and don't forget to vote and give me your thoughts on this chapter, on the progression of the story or anything else.