| April 13th | Saturday Evening |

~ Sam's POV ~

After the couple's therapy session, I could tell letting the idea of helping Ava didn't want to leave Megan's mind. I figured over time, she would eventually accept that it was out of her control, and there really wasn't anything she could do about it. We didn't talk about it anymore, which I also figured was for the best, to help her get over it.

As the show at Crossroads played on, I try to get as much done in the office as I can before I was forced out to help the bartenders. Dane, Ty and Mia were working tonight, which meant I didn't really have to do much, but a bar-back and a server had called out. This meant we were short-staffed.

Eventually the night ended, and we locked the doors, but Crossroads was a complete disaster. We would be here for at least another hour cleaning up before we could leave for the night.

I help and chat with my bartenders who seemed to be meshing well with each other. Mia seemed to have a small crush on Dane and hated the unfortunate fact that he was married. Ty swore Dane was his best friend, but I couldn't help but wonder if Dane had told either of them about his family like he had told me.

"So, Sam..." Dane starts. "Any reason you're particularly quiet tonight?"

"She just misses Megan," Ty teases. "She gets mopey after a long shift without her."

"I do not!" I defend.

"Do too!"

"I think it's cute," Mia includes on my behalf. "You and Megan are the cutest couple, like, ever." Then she turns to Dane who was wiping down the bar. "Dane, how come we don't know what your wife looks like?"

Dane tenses up a bit but shakes it off after a few moments of self-talk.

"Ah, well, you guys never asked," he counters.

"Wait, you're married?" Ty scoffs.

Dane flashes his ring that sat on his left hand in confusion.

"How did I not see your ring?" Ty wonders.

"Probably because people only notice rings if they're interested," Mia says with a laugh.

Ty just shrugs his shoulders and asks, "Well, I wanna see a picture of your wife. She's gotta be fine!"

Dane and I exchange looks while he smirks to himself and pulls out his phone. I couldn't believe this is how he's choosing to come out to his coworkers, but then again, he seemed to not really care how they were going to react. I find inspiration in this.

"This is my spouse, J.C." He flashes them a picture on his phone. "Oh, and I also have a son, Andre."

The looks on Mia and Ty's faces are comical.

"Wait a minute..." Ty leans back. "You're gay?"

"Bi." Dane corrects and laughs to himself. "Why? Are you interested now?"

"No!" Ty throws up his hands. "I mean, not that I wouldn't be if I did like men... but I'm not gay, or bi, because I like women. Strictly women."

"Oh, don't get weird Ty." Mia shoves him. "You're clearly not Dane's type anyway."

"I would totally be his type," Ty argues. "Right Dane?"

Dane holds up his hands. "I'm not answering that."

I just laugh at my employees while we finish up cleaning the bar. It was nice to know this wouldn't affect the relationships, and it made everything more open and accepting. Also, I didn't have to be afraid of accidentally outing Dane at the same time. Not that I was horribly afraid I would, I just knew sometimes coming out for men was a bit more difficult and risky, and there were reasons they held back.

It wasn't until we were leaving that Dane called out to me again.

"Hey, Sam, what are you doin' tomorrow?" he asks.

"Ah, I'm not sure," I answer. "Why? Is your car giving you trouble again?"

"No," he says. "I'm just wondering if you'd like to go to the batting cages with me."

"The batting cages?"

"Yeah," he affirms "It's something I like to do when I feel... stressed."

I just look at him and wonder if he wasn't giving me all the details, but the idea sounded like a lot of fun. I hadn't swung a bat in a long time. From what I could recall, it was a pretty good exercise to release some tension.

"Yeah, I'm down. That sounds fun," I agree.

"Cool." He unlocks his car. "Meet me at my place around noon?"

"Yeah."

Then he waves me off, climbs into his car, and disappears out of the parking lot.

* * *

I was excited to hang out with Dane the next day. We meet up at his house and decide to take my car, mostly because Dane seems to love riding passenger so much. I don't mind. It doesn't take us long to pull up to our destination and make our way to where the sound of ringing bats echo.

"So, did you ever actually play ball?" I ask Dane.

"I did," he confirms. "Football in the fall, baseball in the spring."

"You were one of those golden-athlete types, weren't you?" I joke.

"I don't mean to brag, but..." He laughs arrogantly. "I might just put you to shame."

We warm up with slower pitches, and then he lets me go first since I'm more accustomed to fast-pitch softballs. He cheers me on from behind the safety of the fence behind me.

"So..." I swing and connect with a rubber ball. The bat rattles in my hands. "What's the real reason you asked me to come with you out here?"

"I like you and like I said, I've been feelin' a bit stressed out," is all Dane says. "I like to come and do this sometimes."

"Stressed out about what?" I ask.

There is a slight pause.

"I've been wanting to drink again," he admits sadly.

Now, this makes more sense. It's obvious he's stressed about something, but it's the stress that makes you want to turn to alcohol again. I know exactly what he feels. I had been in my own form of spiraling only a few months ago.

"My mom's in the hospital right now." I step away from the batter's box and look at him. "She's not doin' well."

I hit the last round and exit the fenced-in area to talk to Dane. He has this look on his face that tells me something was seriously wrong, but he was struggling with something else.

"Then why are we here? You should be going see her," I say.

"I can't." He accepts the bat from me. "I'm not allowed to see my family anymore."

"What?" I ask in disbelief.

He doesn't say anything else. At least, not right away. He steps into the baseball section and drops a few quarters into the designated slot. It takes him a few rounds before he continues our conversation.

"My dad kicked me out of the house when I was eighteen." He swings hard and the ball goes flying. "He caught me and my boyfriend at the time messin' around. Of course, before he threw me out, he beat the shit out of me first. Told me he'd do it again if I ever came back."

I stand there in utter disbelief. Not that his story was hard to believe, because it wasn't. Unfortunately, I had heard a lot of guys in the community recount similar stories back when I worked at Jinx.

"How'd you even find out she was in the hospital?" I ask.

"My younger sister."

The bat cracks again against another speeding ball.

"She still calls me and keeps in touch but..." He swings and misses his last ball. "I don't know."

"You have to go see her." I watch him step out of the batting cage. "I mean, your dad can't speak for everyone in your family."

"Well, he does." Dane stands in front of me with a blank expression on his face. "I come from a super traditional household. You know, the ones where the man of the house has the final say for everything. Even if my mom did wanna see me, I'm not sure my father would let."

"Maybe talk to your sister about it," I advise. "See what she thinks?"

He hands the bat off to me and remains silent with thought after that. I didn't know if he wanted to discussion to be over or if he had nothing else to say on the matter. Obviously, I didn't want to press him about it because it was clearly sensitive information. That didn't prevent me from feeling for him.

I reenter the batting cage.

"My mom never got the chance to kick me out," I confess. "Because I threatened to call child services on her if she didn't let me go live with my older brother. Still, I think it would've happened eventually."

Dane stands near the fence so he and I can hear each other clearly.

"I see the scars," he says. "You have some on the back of your arms. I didn't wanna ask but..."

"No, yeah." I swing the bat a little harder. "I got those the night I threatened to get her arrested."

"What happened?"

"We were arguing because she was trying to ground me again and I wouldn't give her my car keys," I explain. "She slapped me across the face after I said something smartass. I tripped on the rug and went crashing through the coffee table. I don't remember much of it, but a part of me thinks she pushed me. I'd like not to believe that though.

She rushed me to the E.R. and then nothing was said about it, until I threatened her and moved the hell of out there," I finish. "She's still never apologized completely for what she did but... we're at least civil with each other now."

"Damn." Dane stares in surprise. "I'm sorry."

"But even if she or my dad were doing bad, I'd still want to see them, you know?" I shrug and miss my last ball. "I don't know. I'd regret it if they died without me possibly being able to say goodbye."

He just stays silent.

"And I'm not saying I know you and your mom's relationship," I defend. "I just... if you need off, let me know."

He gave me a sad smile and a nod.

"Thanks, Sam. I appreciate it."

I hand him back the bat.

"Now, have you been keeping score? 'Cause I think I'm winning by like, ten," he changes the subject. "Am I right?"

"You're being a bit generous," I counter. "I think it's more like you're ahead by two."

"You've been paying attention!"

"Of course, I have!" I bang on the fence behind him. "I'm super competitive!"

He just laughs while he focuses hard on this round. It would most likely be our last considering I wasn't in the same shape I had been during my softball days. My body would surely be sore tomorrow.

"So, what about dinner sometime next weekend?" Dane suggests. "You and Megan can come over while I grill?"

"First of all, I'm always down for food," I answer. "That's something you should know if we're gonna be hanging out more."

"Noted."

"And dinner sounds great," I accept. "Megan wants to meet you and J.C."

"You haven't told her about Andre?"

"Not yet," I confess. "Once I do, she's never gonna leave me alone about it."

"Understandable."

We finish our last round and I end up winning by three. Dane was only butthurt until we finished the day with pizza and some ski-ball inside. We talk a bit more about some of our childhood, but not much more. It seemed to taint the good time we were having.

Then, after crushing me on the hoops game, Dane was back to normal and I let him gloat about it on the way home.

***A/N***

Hope everyone is doing okay during these trying times! Here's another update to brighten your day! Please don't forget to vote. Love you all <3

Patreon:  www.patreon.com/laurynabrooks

Twitter:  laurynabrooks

Site:  www.laurynslgbtbookshelf.com

Be Proud. Stay You.

Lauryn