-Troy-

I felt like a lazy bum, knowing Gwen, and Stephanie and her brother were clearing out my room while I was sipping my soda, lying on the couch in Luke's room, playing video games.

"I should've gone with them..." I muttered for the thousandth time.

"You need to stay right here and get some rest, all right?" Luke replied for the thousandth time.

I sighed. It was way too late, anyway. They were probably done packing everything by now. I just couldn't shake the feeling that I was a lazy bum.

"How's your leg?" I asked, tossing my controller away.

"Still attached," Luke said, and turned to look at me. "You need to stop worrying about me. How's your head?"

"You need to stop telling me what I need to do," I told him sternly. "And my head is fine."

He looked at me under his eyebrows, squinting his eyes, acting like he was the boss around here. He sure looked hot, though.

"Don't you try to flirt your way out of this," I said, holding back my laugh. "You were running around like you didn't just have your leg operated on a few days ago!"

"The leg is just fine. The whole point of having the cast on it is that I don't need to worry about it," he spoke with a low voice.

"I'm pretty sure that's not how it works," I said, and was about to go on a rant about the importance of giving his leg enough time to heal when he suddenly pulled me into a kiss. I was so surprised that I completely forgot all about what I was going to say. It was such a rare treat to have him be so bold with me. Initiating the kiss really was bold for him.

"That's exactly how it works," he said once he let go of me.

I just laughed at his words and pecked his lips once more.

It was only half an hour later when we heard Gwen's car stopping in front of the house. I helped Luke up from the couch and we went to greet her together. I never really understood how big my game collection was until I saw at least a dozen big moving boxes in Gwen's car. It was a miracle they all fit inside it.

"I grabbed every single game I could find," Gwen said proudly when I went to take the first box. "Steph and Arthur took everything else at their place."

I assumed Arthur was Stephanie's brother. "I should've come with you," I told her apologetically.

"Nonsense!" she laughed. "It wasn't a big task, anyway."

"Everything went all right?" Luke spoke when we stepped onto the porch where he was waiting.

"Yeah – Arthur seems like a bright lad," Gwen said. "First, I thought we would have a problem, but he was really polite. He was really grateful for helping his sister. And he said he knows a lawyer who can help you guys," Gwen spoke the last part to me.

"Lawyer..." I muttered, and suddenly realized I wouldn't be left alone in a while. That thought brought my mood down, and I started feeling a bit anxious. Of course things wouldn't be simple for me. I couldn't just stay at Luke's and be done with my dad.

"Don't worry, Troy," Gwen said gently. "Everything will be all right. We got your back – you're not alone in this."

I took a deep breath and gave her a smile. "Thank you."

And just like that, I felt better already.

*****

On Wednesday morning, Steph and I made plans to go visit my aunt on Friday. She came to see me early in the morning, and told me that her lawyer friend, Joseph, was already building up a case to get my father's parental rights terminated, but without a legal guardian, I would end up in foster care. Thankfully, my aunt was ready to take me in. It was a relief, sort of.

"What are we going to do next?" I asked her.

"Well, Joseph already arranged things so that you can stay with me for now, instead of going into foster care," she told me, sounding a bit timid. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you this sooner. We didn't have other options."

"I don't mind," I told her. "Anything is better than foster care."

"My thoughts exactly," she said with a smile. "You can stay here with the Frosts for now, and on Friday, we'll go see your aunt. Joseph will come with us."

"All right," I said.

"After that, we'll see what we're going to do next," she added.

I was happy that things were moving forward, but at the same time, I just wanted to hide from the world. All this legal stuff made my head hurt, so I was really grateful to Stephanie for taking care of things. I had no idea what I would do if I didn't have her and Luke's parents by my side.

On that same day, I finally called Max and told him about what happened. The reason I'd waited so long was that I didn't want to ruin their camping trip, but he wasn't happy about my reasoning.

"You should've called me right away! You're my best friend!" he practically yelled at me over the phone.

"Sorry," I chuckled at his reaction. "I'm fine though. Honestly."

He and Sky came to visit us, and I told them everything that had happened from the moment I decided to go tell my dad to go fuck himself, ending the story with my aunt's promise to file for custody over me. They were horrified about what my father did, and glad that I finally got away from him.

I didn't say it out loud, but I feared I was still far from getting away from him. He would do everything to ruin my chances to move in with my aunt, but Stephanie told me not to worry about him – he had already screwed up his case by attacking us both, and for neglecting me for so long.

The reason I was worried was the part that we needed to prove that he had neglected me. At least we had evidence about the assault.

Thanksgiving was definitely not what I had thought it would be, but it was fun nonetheless. We ate way too much and watched football while eating even more, and I did my best not to think about anything that would make me worried or anxious. Spending pretty much the entire day snuggled under Luke's arm definitely helped me with that. It was the first real Thanksgiving I'd had after Mom died.

Later in the evening, Mrs. Frost took Luke and me to visit Mom's grave. I had the feeling Mom was happy to see me with him. With someone who loved me and cared about me and took care of me.

"She would've loved you," I told Luke, trying not to get too emotional.

"I would've loved to meet her," he replied softly. "She must have been a great, great woman to give birth to such an amazing person as you are."

"Are you flirting with me?" I chuckled, trying not to start bawling on the spot.

"Yes," he said, wrapping his arm around me.

I wished that day would never end.

But it did. I woke up on Friday feeling more nervous than ever. I didn't even know why. I was just going to see my aunt and talk about my future with her as my legal guardian. It was nothing to be worried about, but I still had my stomach in a knot.

Luke asked if he should come with us, but I didn't want him to strain his leg, so I told him to stay at home.

"It takes us a little over an hour to get there," I told him. "Your leg will get angry about it."

He grimaced. "I don't mind."

"Dude – I'll be fine," I told him reassuringly, but it was clear he was not happy about letting me out of his sight.

After he finally gave me permission to go alone – the poor guy still thought he was the boss around here – I called Stephanie and let her know I was ready to go. Thirty minutes later, we were on our way to my aunt's.

I was sitting in the backseat while Stephanie and Joseph talked about legal stuff to their heart's content. I was texting with Max and Luke, trying to convince them that there was nothing to worry about, and that I was fine doing this on my own. I really did want to do this on my own. I probably should have learned by now that doing things on my own wasn't good for me, but... I needed to do things alone. I was so used to it that even the thought of having someone as moral support was... scary.

I was so used to being all alone. This day was important for my future, and I didn't want to have anyone there to witness it. In case... in case they only acted like they cared.

In case he only acted like he cared... Luke.

For a moment, I thought about it. The reason I never wanted to go out with him in the first place was the fact that he seemed like he really cared about me. Like he wanted to be with me. Even after pushing his patience to the limit, he was still eager to go out with me.

And he cared. I knew he did, and yet I was afraid he didn't. Boy, was I a mess or what?

The reason I didn't want him to come with me, not today and not when I went to face my father, was that I needed to remind myself I had to be strong enough to be alone. I still couldn't trust anyone. Not Stephanie, not this Joseph guy, not even Max... or Luke.

There. I admitted it. And perhaps now I would be able to do something about it. I wanted to trust Luke, because he had proved to me over and over again that he was worth trusting. And Max had always been there for me. Always.

I looked at Stephanie, who was going through some papers while Joseph was driving. Maybe I could trust her as well? There was no need for her to give a single crap about me, but here she was, making sure I would have a good home.

"It's left from here, right?" Stephanie asked, and I looked around.

"Yeah," I mumbled, and repeated it louder. My damn voice was acting up. Most likely due to the very emotional state I had driven myself in.

After being on the road for almost an hour, we were finally getting close to my aunt's home. Joseph was muttering about the distance and that it would probably make things worse for us in case my dad wouldn't lose his parental rights and decided to fight to keep me. I didn't want to think about that, so I tuned out.

But it sure was far away... I would need to change school and everything... I wouldn't be able to see Luke or Max or Sky often anymore. It was, of course, better than being homeless or in foster care, but... those were just silver linings.

"Are we... in the right place?" Stephanie asked carefully when we finally arrived at my aunt's neighborhood.

"Yeah..." I said quietly.

"It's uhh... A trailer park," Joseph said with a surprised voice – with a negative tone in it.

"Yeah..." I muttered again and turned to look out of the window.

It wasn't the worst trailer park I had seen. The small homes were in pretty good condition. The grass was still green even though the weather was turning cold and there were plants and nice white fences everywhere. There was hardly any trash lying around, either.

Joseph stopped the car by the gate and let out a long sigh before he continued driving. I knew what he was thinking about. My case was turning worse and worse by every turn of the event.

"So... which one is your aunt's?" Stephanie asked, and I gave them directions.

It took me a moment to remember which one of the tiny, white houses was my aunts, because they were exactly the same, but then I spotted a familiar, old gnome statue in the front lawn of one of them, and sure enough, when Joseph stopped the car, my aunt stepped out of the house.

I felt weird when I stepped out of the car and glanced over the tiny home. It would most likely be my home from now on. I felt cold when I stepped closer to it. I wished Luke had come with me. I wasn't strong enough, after all.

"Troy," my aunt stepped closer, looking much older than I remembered. She was so much like my mother it almost hurt to see her. "Look how tall you grew!" she said with a sad smile, before she gave me a warm hug.

I didn't say anything. Everything was so overwhelming.

"Mrs. Moore?" Stephanie stepped next to us, and my aunt let go of me.

Moore. My mother's last name.

"Yes, but you can call me Helen. You must be Stephanie," my aunt spoke, and the two of them shook hands. Joseph introduced himself as well, and my aunt invited us all in. "Would you like coffee?"

I let the rest of them get inside first. I needed a moment to gather myself before I could walk through the door. The house was just like I remembered: the kitchen and living room were in the middle of the house as one big room, and there was one bedroom at each end. That was about it.

"Your house is... lovely," Stephanie said, looking around. It actually was a lovely house, just a really tiny one. Everything was small there. The dining table could fit probably three people, the couch was for two, the tv was smaller than my computer screen, and if I remembered right, the bedrooms were pretty much the same: just a tiny desk and a bed that had hidden drawers under it for clothes.

My aunt turned to look at Stephanie before she glanced at me. "It's a good thing Randall is in college now. He said you can have his room," she told me with a smile.

"Randall?" Stephanie repeated politely.

"My cousin," I said. "How's Bill?"

"He's doing well – he's at work now but he's looking forward to seeing you," Aunt said while making coffee.

"Your husband?" Joseph asked while trying to fit next to the dining table, arranging his long legs under it.

"Yes," Aunt nodded with a cheery smile.

Everything was so awkward. I turned to look out of the windows, wondering if Luke's parents would let me stay at their place over the weekends.

"So, should we get down to business?" Joseph asked, putting his papers on top of the table.

I walked to the window when they started talking about me. My future. I didn't listen to a word they said. I couldn't. I wanted to go back to Luke. I wanted to hide under his arm and stay hidden until this whole thing was over.

It was so cold here. It seemed like after spending the week in Luke's room, where the temperature was always so high, I was feeling cold everywhere else. I wrapped my arms around myself, wishing they would hurry up so I could go back to Luke. I was probably being really rude, but I couldn't handle the situation.

"Troy?" someone spoke my name after a while, and I turned to look at the three of them. They were all staring at me. "Would you like to know about your new school?"

New school...

"I..."

Did I just lose everything after all?

It was too much. Way too much. I walked out without looking back. I needed fresh air. There was a small meadow close by with no one around, so I headed there and stopped to take a couple of deep breaths. Too much. Too much. Too much...

I heard someone coming out the door, and I tried to recollect myself the best I could, when I heard light footsteps approaching me slowly. Soon, Stephanie stopped next to me. I knew it was her by the scent of her perfume without even looking in her direction.

"We have time," she said quietly after a while. "By the court order, I'm taking care of you as long as your father is in custody. It will take some time before they'll release him. If they release him."

I didn't reply to her. I had lost my ability to speak. We were both quiet for a while, but then I felt her hand on my arm. I looked at her shortly, and she was smiling.

"We will figure things out, I promise, but I have the feeling that this isn't working out," she said, waving her hand toward the trailer park.

"I don't want to stay here," I managed to squeak out.

"I know," Stephanie said quietly, giving me a hug.

I was weak. I didn't want to be alone. I didn't want to start all over in a new place. I didn't want to go to a new school. I didn't want to uproot my entire life and move here. I wanted to live close to Luke and Max and Sky and stay on my team and be taught by the same, old teachers and go to my arcade where I knew everyone's name and order pizza from the same guy I always did and spend half an hour chatting with the owner of the game shop I always bought my games from...

This was not my home. I knew my aunt was a good person, but how could I ever trust her if I could hardly even trust my boyfriend? How could I be sure my life would be any better here if I didn't have the people who cared about me around?

"We will think of something else, I promise," Stephanie said with a smile, when she let go of me. "Come – we have cookies."

I had no idea why, but I started laughing. There were tears burning in my eyes, but I still laughed. "Sure..." I mumbled.

She put her arm on the back of my shoulder and I let her lead me back to my aunt's house. I felt better now, knowing I wouldn't have to stay here.

But did I have any other options?