"Alright," I said to Steven, as I reviewed the list. "I'm leaving you in charge."

"I'm honored."

I rolled my eyes. "Clayton will be here in 15 minutes."

"Of course."

"Can you handle it?"

"I think I can figure it out."

"I'll be back in 30," I said, hiking my purse up over my shoulder. "Please don't burn the camp down or anything."

"I'll try my best."

I gave him a good shove before saying goodbye to my kids, promising to bring pizza upon my return.

Today was Fun Friday, meaning that I was providing pizza for the kids' lunches. Meaning that I had to leave to actually pick up the pizza.

And Kylie had called out sick. I think she was still mourning she and Landon's break-up, but no matter because we were down a hand today. But Clayton had agreed to come in and fill in for the afternoon.

So I now get to spend my afternoon with Steven Anderson and Clayton Johnson. How did I get to be so lucky?

I stopped and picked up the pizza order, dropping a few bucks in the tip jar to thank the guys for their hard work. Making up all these pizzas for just my order had to be a daunting task, not to mention the rest of the pizzas they'd be slaving away on during the rest of their Friday shift.

As predicted, it took me about 30 minutes to pick up the pizzas, and when I came back the kids were in the gym, playing dodgeball.

Clayton was playing as referee, which was odd. He'd usually be in the midst of the game, pegging kids.

"Hey," I greeted, my eyes surveying the gym for Steven.

I didn't see him.

"Where's Steven?"

"Not here."

I looked over at Clayton, my eyebrows raised. "What do you mean not here?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing."

"What?"

"When I got here, the kids were sitting in the break room with a custodian?"

I stared at him, my jaw falling slack.

"Are you kidding?" I screeched, causing the gym to fall silent.

I glanced around at the kids, who were now all staring at me after my outburst.

"Um, sorry," I said, with a wave of my hand. "Continue on with your barbaric game."

Clayton rolled his eyes, picking up a dodgeball and pegging Kobe with it. "You're out. Continue."

"That's not fair!" Kobe exclaimed, as the game continued.

"I'm the ref and I make the rules," Clayton whined back. "You're out."

I rolled my eyes. "You're not out Kobe. Don't listen to him."

Kobe picked up another ball, resuming playing.

"I left Steven in charge for 15 minutes," I hissed.

"Actually I was five minutes late."

"Shut up, you're not helping."

Clayton chuckled, clearly amused by the situation at hand.

"We could get sued."

"By who exactly? I'm certainly not telling parents. And the kids were watching a movie, so I highly doubt they even knew Anderson left. So unless you're blabbing to the parents, they're never going to know."

I felt my heart rate calming back down, and I let out a long sigh.

"Relax," Clayton said, with a laugh. "It's fine."

"It's not fine. Where did Steven go?"

"I don't know. He's not answering my texts."

I ripped out my phone, calling him. It rang through to voicemail.

"See?" Clayton asked, with an amused smile.

"Just know that he's dead to me."

~*~

"Fifteen minutes," I ranted to Kylie, as I locked up the camp for the night. "Fifteen minutes of responsibility."

"That's what you get for trusting Steven," Kylie said, with a sigh. "That idiot."

"When I get my hands on him, he's going to have hell to pay."

"Whoa there," Kylie said, with a laugh.

"I've never been so livid."

"I feel you girl. Those are our children in there. What if something happened to one of them?" Kylie ranted. "We would be so liable. And not to mention that he clearly doesn't care about the camp like we do. Or the kids."

"I know right?" I said, sighing because someone finally agreed with me. "And Clayton just treated it all like it was some hilarious joke."

"It's Clayton, what do you expect?"

"At least more than that."

I unlocked my car, dropping into the driver's seat. "Are you coming in on Monday?"

"Oh yeah, I should totes feel better by then."

"You're such a faker."

"I'm not, I swear! You can ask my mom, I was running a fever and everything."

I rolled my eyes, staring up my car. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Okay, love you! Bye."

"Love you too," I said, with a laugh as I hung up.

I didn't have any texts from Bryce, which was strange.

I tried calling him.

"Hello?" Bryce's voice asked.

"Hey babe!"

"Oh hey."

I scrunched my eyebrows together, a bit confused. "Everything okay?"

"Where are you?"

"Just leaving work."

"So you know about Anderson then?"

"Yeah, I know that the little jerk ditched me today at work. Do you know what he did?" I ranted. "He left the kids with a custodian and ditched."

There was silence on the other end of the line.

"I know, you're shocked," I said, with a sigh. "So was I when Clayton told me. I mean who does that-"

"Soph," Bryce said, cutting me off. "Sophie, I'm at the hospital."

I felt my insides freeze up. "Oh my God what's wrong? What happened? Are you okay? I'm coming right now-"

"No, no," Bryce said, cutting me off. "It's not for me. I'm fine babe, I'm fine."

I felt my heart slow down, my breathing returning to normal. "Oh my God, you scared the crap out of me Bryce!"

"Sorry," he apologized. "But I'm here with Mr. John."

Mr. John. Steven's dad.

"Wait, what?"

"Sophie, it's bad," Bryce explained.

My grip tightened on the steering wheel.

I'd spent the entire afternoon cursing Steven Anderson, and he'd been at the hospital with his dad.

I'm a terrible person.

"What's going on? What's the matter?"

"He's been sick for a while now," Bryce explained. "They knew it was coming. But I'm here with Steven now, and he's pretty shaken up."

I can only imagine.

I heard voices pick up in the background on Bryce's end.

"Babe, I've got to go," Bryce apologized. "Just try and understand that Steven did what he did because of his dad, okay?" And then the line clicked dead.

I immediately called Clayton.

"Why are you calling me?" Clayton asked, answering my call. "This had better be damn near close to an emergency."

I heard a lot of noise in the background, signaling that he was probably out at our usual Friday night joint.

"It's Steven."

"What about Anderson?'

"I just heard from Bryce, Clayton it's his dad. And it's bad."

There were a few moments of silence on Clayton's end, background noise coming through the receiver.

"Mr. John?" Clayton finally asked.

"Yeah."

"Dammit."

And then we both lapsed into silence.

"That's all I wanted to tell you," I finally said.

And then Clayton hung up.

"Goodbye to you too," I mocked. "Yes, you're welcome for the information. Inconsiderate jerk."

~*~

"Who are you here to see?" the nurse behind the front desk asked me.

"Mr. John," I immediately said.

Her eyebrows wrinkled in confusion.

"Uh, sorry. John Anderson."

"ID please?"

I gave her my ID and she processed me through the computer, taking my picture before handing me a visitor's pass.

I turned to see Bryce standing in the waiting room, a surgical mask strapped across his face.

"Hello sexy," I said, rising up and kissing his cheek.

"Doctor's orders," he said, his voice muffled through the mask. "Apparently a hospital is the germiest place there is."

Doesn't surprise me.

"And since I just recently got sick, my doctor is all paranoid now," he added.

"Well I don't blame him."

Bryce rolled his eyes, lacing his fingers through mine before leading me over to the elevator.

Clayton was waiting around the corner, his gaze on his phone.

"About time," he huffed, when he saw us.

I just rolled my eyes, pressing the button to call the elevator.

It was here a few moments later, and Bryce led us up to the 6th floor, the Oncology floor.

My hand tightened around Bryce's as I realized how easily this could be Bryce, right here in this very hospital, right here on this very floor.

I tried so hard not to think like that. But being here made it seem just that much more real.

Bryce, as though he could read my thoughts, squeezed my hand in reassurance, pulling me in closer to him.

The elevator doors opened, and Steven was sitting out in the main foyer, his forearms resting on his knees and his head drooped low.

I knelt down next to him. "Hey."

His head immediately shot up.

He had dark circles under his eyes, stress lines evident on his face. And tear tracks marked their way down his face.

But he still mustered up a smile.

"Hey guys," he said, rising up to his feet.

I stood up as well, casting a look over to Bryce. He just offered me a slight nod in return.

"How's he doing?" Clayton asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"He has good days and bad days," Steven answered, his voice wavering a bit. "Today is a good day I think."

I nodded, offering him a supportive smile. "How are you doing?"

Steven bit his bottom lip. "I'm fine, yeah."

I just continued to stare at him.

He closed his eyes for a moment, tears leaking out the sides.

Clayton's gaze shifted to the ground.

I reached out and wrapped my arms around Steven, pulling him in close.

"I'm fine," Steven repeated, his voice breaking.

"It's okay," I said, rubbing his back as he cried on my shoulder. "It's okay not to be okay."

After a few minutes Steven sobered up, pulling away from me and wiping his eyes. "Uh, sorry about that."

"Don't be," I said, offering him a smile.

Bryce came back with some tissues, offering them to Steven. "The only time I'll ever let you touch my girlfriend," he stated, his voice still muffled through the mask.

Steven chuckled, taking the tissues and blowing his nose. "She gives great hugs man, really."

There's Steven Anderson.

Bryce's gaze darkened.

Clayton chuckled. "So have they said anything about your dad, like timeline wise? How long will he be in here for?"

"Uh, they're not sure yet," Steven said, using another tissue to wipe his eyes. "His immune system is pretty down right now. And he's still pretty sick..." He trailed off, with a nod.

I think we can all pretty much fill in the blanks.

Mr. John isn't leaving the hospital.

"But his room is this way," Steven said, tossing the used tissues in the trash before heading down the hallway. "If you guys want to follow me."

I followed Steven down the hallway, pausing as he held the door open for us.

"Oh, and sorry about camp the other day," Steven said to me, before I went inside. "I just... I panicked and I didn't know what to do and-"

"It's okay," I said, with a nod. "It's your dad Steven. You don't owe me an apology, I understand."

"I know, but I just sort of ditched the kids there-"

"At least you found a custodian."

His eyebrows wrinkled in confusion for a moment, and then he offered me a sheepish smile. "Right."

"You did find that custodian... Right?" I asked, lowering my eyes at him.

"Oh yeah, of course."

Great. Now I really was going to have a lawsuit on my hands.

~*~

I stood with my arms folded across my chest, watching as the last suitcase was checked into airport security.

Bryce shifted from one foot to the other, clearly anxious.

I reached out and grasped his shoulder, leaning in and kissing his cheek.

He didn't even acknowledge me, his gaze fixed on Clayton as he made his way over towards us.

"That's it," Clayton said, his voice emotionless. "All checked in and ready to board."

Bryce just nodded.

"Well goodbye Clayton," I spoke up. "In some weird and unexpected way, I think I'll actually miss you."

He chuckled, his hands shoved into his pockets. "Yeah, I think I might actually miss you too."

And then I reached out, pulling him into a hug.

I surprised him at first, but then he hugged me back for a few moments, squeezing me tight.

"Have fun in Florida," I said, with a smile. "You have to meet Mickey Mouse of course. And send lots of pictures."

He just rolled his eyes at that.

And then he glanced over at Bryce.

Bryce was still standing there with his arms folded across his chest, his gaze unwavering.

I stepped back, giving the two boys some room for their goodbyes.

"Well I guess this is goodbye then," Clayton stated.

"Yeah," Bryce said, quietly. "I guess this is it."

The boys were silent for a few moments, and then Clayton reached up, wiping a tear from his eye.

Clayton Johnson was crying.

Bryce then threw his arms around Clayton, sobs racking his body.

"Hey now," Clayton said, with a slight laugh as he hugged Bryce back. "Don't get too emotional on me."

"Why did you have to sign to Florida you asshole?" Bryce asked, through his crying.

"Fresh start and all that bullshit," Clayton said, his arms still firmly wrapped around Bryce. "But that doesn't mean I'm leaving this life behind, okay?"

"Just promise me that you'll miss me at least."

"I promise you that I'll miss you," Clayton muttered. "That's pretty much a given."

Bryce managed to regain control of his tears, finally releasing Clayton. "Well I'll miss you."

"You better."

Bryce used the bottom of his shirt to wipe away his eyes. "And you'll come to my tournament in Florida?"

"The one you're not supposed to be playing at?" Clayton asked, with a slight laugh. "Of course I'll be there."

The two boys did a bro handshake, and then Clayton gave Bryce one last hug before heading over to board his plane, casting one last glance at us over his shoulders.

"Where are his parents?" I asked Bryce.

"They said goodbye at his house," Bryce informed me, still sniffling. "Clarissa knew she's be too emotional to do it in an airport."

I wrapped my arms around Bryce, bringing him in close. "I'm sorry love."

"You're probably glad he's gone," Bryce muttered.

"No, I'm not," I said, much to the surprise of both him and me.

I released Bryce, wiping a single tear off of my cheek.

"Not only because I hate to see you so upset," I said, with a slight laugh. "But also because I think I might actually miss him."

I glanced over at the direction where Clayton had disappeared off to. But he was gone now.

I think that I might actually miss Clayton Johnson.

So what did you guys think about Steven's dad? Were you a little mad at him before you knew? Do you think Mr. John is going to pull out of this one? What about Clayton's departure? He's off to the University of Florida now!

Teaser: Sophie heads to one of Bryce's baseball tournaments with him. Any guesses as to where it might be? Hint: we'll be seeing some old characters come on back.